Garbage Man

When I was a kid my dad would put the metal garbage can in the back alley of our house on Florida Street in Longview, Wa once a week. The can had no wheels and was half the size of today's big green cans on wheels. There would be a man who would drive the truck and then there was a man who would hold onto to what seemed like a small metal bar on the back bumper. The driver would fly through the alley and stop suddenly. The guy on the back would jump off, throw the lid off the metal can, pick up the can with a single hand lift, and gracefully toss the trash into the back of the garbage truck. He would then put the can down and actually put the lid back on that metal can. All this took about 20 seconds, but was repeated at every house. I always wondered if the guy who rode on the back of the truck ever got thrown off by the driver's erratic speed. Possibly.
Today, a big white and orange truck speeds down the rode driven by 1 guy. Stops suddenly at each home where people (usually kids) have rolled their trash to the street that morning. He pushes a button and out come long arms to lift the big "Rubbermaid" style can up and over to dump it's contents in his truck. He pushes another button and the arms lower the can back down to the street. It releases it's grasp, tuck back into the side of the truck, and off Mr. Garbage man goes down the street.
I was just thinking about all the changes that have occurred since I was a child. Those changes that have reduced the need for man's labor. Those things that we may think have simplified our lives and in reality only made it more complicated and costly.