Behind The Curtain (5 May, 2023)
Friday is “take out the trash day”, at least according to a first season episode of The West Wing. It’s the day when the White House releases a bunch of stories to the press and throws in a few they hope get buried, as people pay less attention to the news on Friday and the weekend. Now whether this factoid from a fictional White House existing in a neoliberal utopia circa January 2000 has any bearing on how things work in present day Montreal is anyone’s guess. Seriously, the political issues discussed on that show seem, for the most part, still current, but then someone whips out their pager or references “the blogosphere” versus the “real” media. Regardless, it’s a good jumping off point to say that, for me, Friday is the day I share a bunch of stories I hope don’t get buried and don’t see as trash, except, this week, I’m going to start talking about trash, literally.
For me, Monday is “take out the trash day”, and the recycling too! That’s not unusual, seeing as I live on a major street, Atwater. Sure, while growing up, trash was collected twice a week, and recycling was collected once, but times change and I can change with them. (Editor’s Note: Can you?) What I do find strange, and, to be honest, a little annoying, is the window we are given to put out our brown and blue bags. Pickup is sometime after 8am on Mondays and we are supposed to put it all out there between 5 and 8am Monday morning, not the night before. I have always lived off the main drag, but frequently close to it, and the rule, possibly an unwritten one, but a rule nonetheless, was that when the sun went down the night before an early morning pickup, you could bring your bags to the curb.
I thought that was the case at my current place, too, all of my neighbours agree, or at least act like that’s the case. A few months into my stay, we got notices in the mailbox from the borough talking about garbage collection with “not the night before” in bold mid-way through. We probably could have ignored the notice, as mostly everyone else did and does, but decided to follow the rule and not risk a fine. The notice, after all, read like a stern warning.
I’m all for following rules and supporting policies that are designed to keep my community and planet cleaner, as long as they actually accomplish that goal. I don’t see that as the case here. My stretch of Atwater may be busy during weekend rush hour, but at 10pm on a Sunday night, it only gets slightly more activity than your typical urban residential street. Plus, we’re pretty orderly with our refuse, and respect the sidewalk, putting it all on the other side. I’ve heard some horror stories from other parts of the city where this is not the case. A friend in the Centre-Sud (aka eastern Downtown) told me last year that her neighbours really adjusted poorly to garbage pickup reduced to once a week, some just putting their trash out twice a week anyway, and one person (I hope it’s just one), um, hanging their trash bags over power lines. Also, according to you, Andrew, some of your Plateau neighbours, students in particular, throw their garbage all over the place. Right? (Editor’s Note: It’s disgusting.)
None of that is the case here. We are a respectful, orderly bunch. This rule doesn’t take that into account. Also, it treats us like we are a commercial artery 24/7, when the businesses are all closed in the evening, making us effectively residential with a bunch of vehicle traffic at night. The kind of place where you should be able to take your trash downstairs on a Sunday night for Monday morning pickup. The current rule also assumes that we all have a 9-5 schedule, which is currently the case for me, but I know that if I was working nights, waking up early on a Monday just to take out the trash, and then have to try and get back to bed like nothing happened would be quite an unnecessary inconvenience, to say the least.
Trying to encourage people to change their habits in order to have a cleaner neighbourhood, city, and planet is a noble goal. Doing so without working with them, and taking into account their current habits, is counterproductive. It will lead to an adversarial attitude, where the goal of a cleaner city is not at the top of anyone’s mind any more. Some things don’t need to change, like the understanding that you can take out your trash the night before take out the trash day.
NOTES THIS WEEK
Rail Update: Last week, I wrote about the surprisingly active rail line that passed behind the Atwater Market on the north side of the Lachine Canal.In an attempt to clarify the details two friends provided me with, I reached out to CN Media Relations and Julien Bédard got back to me, sort of confirming one of the theories. This week he followed up with a response to my other question. Rather than edit it into the old post, or possibly in addition to doing so (that’s up to Andrew), I thought I’d update everyone here:: “This rail line is used when the customer requires rail service to their facility. On average, there is less than 1 train per day using this line.” So my friend was wrong, or the frequency has shrunk from twice a day to less than once in a few short years. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, please read last week’s Behind The Curtain.
Lotto Time: We’re hosting a lotto. It’s not the 6/49. You don’t have to buy a ticket, just send an email, and the prize is not cash, it’s a review of your Fringe show. If you have a show in the Montreal Fringe or OFF-Fringe, you can submit it to FTB and on May 25th, we’ll draw 30 shows to be reviewed. You can find the details here: https://www.forgetthebox.ca/fringemtl
Folsom Prison Redux: Last week, I promised that I would share Montreal Metro-based parody lyrics of the Johnny Cash classic Folsom Prison Blues with you. Well, here goes (the full parody was written by my brother, Joe, I wrote just this verse):
When I was a young boy,
My momma told me, “Son,
Always have a bus pass
Or you’ll be on the run!”
So I hopped the gates at Namur
Just to give it a try
And those metro cops they chased me
All the way to Guy. (pronounced the English way, not the correct way)
The Force is Underground: Yesterday, two of my passions, transit and Star Wars, came together as the STM released a Star-Wars-themed Montreal Metro map for Star Wars Day. Pulling names from different eras of the franchise’s timeline, the map features such stations as Peelpatine, Hono-Rey Beaugrand, and Doukullège, plus there are some cartoon series deep-ish cuts such as Pergill (standing in for McGill). It’s nice to know that my local station is Lionel-Grogu. Andrew, your metro is Sher-Bib Fortuna. (Editor’s Note: I prefer Star Trek. And, I don’t generally leave the Plateau). Have a look:
Because I didn’t get a chance to say it yesterday in this space, a belated May The Fourth Be With You and have a great Revenge of the Fifth! Until next Friday!
FTB Founder Jason C. McLean will return every Friday for another installment in his series, Behind The Curtain.
