Jbelkin
18683
524
24
Er, what acts of bravery in the face of combat earns you a ribbon as a garbage guy?
Jun 5, 2026 5:13 PM
Jbelkin
18683
524
24
Er, what acts of bravery in the face of combat earns you a ribbon as a garbage guy?
ChickenROAR
As a sailor in the US Navy. I have more respect for any garage man than any police officer. Fuck the police.
amatte
the sanitation general
server1a
I can almost guarantee that statistically, being a sanitation worker is more dangerous than being a soldier. Just like being a logger is orders of magnitude more dangerous than being a cop, or you're more likely to die being a roofer than a Navy SEAL. It's just we don't have a governor making a statement every time a metal worker gets crushed by an I-beam.
IndependenceHallPhiladelphiaPA
between generals and garbage men, garbage men are vastly more important.
gablestout
@OP On the far left, those awards are Superintendent of the Year, The World Trade Center (9/11) ribbon, Supervisor of the Year, and Supervisor of the Quarter
bittenicht39
The DSNY has a variety of ribbons and awards that can be worn on their Class A uniform. See this document for examples: https://a860-gpp.nyc.gov/downloads/sn00b087p?locale=en
futhor
War. War never changes.
Dustorm
It builds strong culture and cohesion. We'd benefit for more fields having pride in what they do instead of constant profit seeking.
quelin
They have seen a lot of shit.
Se7enEvil666
CapttainKillJoy
Leaky, smelly bags?
Wuz314159
Yes... but enough about Giuliani.
Kablooeeey
They certainly deserve to dress like that more than any cop ever did.
mafiacarstarter
Have you seen New York City rats? Successfully stealing trash from them is bravery in the face of combat.
These men are heroes.
Also, you might look up what happens when you piss off the New York Sanitation Workers' Union.
qPRdxH4UXm36HS9rJgLA
I was shocked when I first visited NY and realized they don't use dumpsters so there are huge piles of trash bags right on the sidewalks.
wadatahmydamie
Not for much longer, supposedly trash collection is being modernized under Mamdani
largomatic
Don’t disparage the trash man, homie. They are a lynchpin of modern civilization. They bravely face unspeakable horrors and blinding stank-levels to prevent the streets from becoming saturated with dirty diapers and amazon boxes.
DasBeaker
I mean look at what happened in The Division https://media4.giphy.com/media/26X3vbUjj0S5rDBkud/giphy.gif?cid=9b38fe91e93p4m7t6sljn46sz26zqymmt39gusasvyxz0fph&ep=v1_gifs_username&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g
AmZero85
Well...don't forget the one pot meth labs that could blow up. Seriously. Friend got hired for trash collection, the safety part of training included a section on meth labs and what to do. Also checking cameras when dumping a can to make sure no one is inside it before running the compactor.
GratuaCuun
Rather salute a single garbage man than a whole parade of cops
Sorrontis
yeah, Garbage men actual help the neighborhood
Zephyr86
There's no song titled Fuck the Garbage Man. Just sayin
Sorrontis
true
FckleberryFarms
It's NYC, dude. I've never been, but based on media, I assume it's some kind of WH40K Skaven battleground.
mmontour
I've been there once. It's pretty much what you see on TV and in movies, but you also get to smell the bags of trash on the sidewalk.
xCGxChief2
Depends on a few things. First how far down the sewers you want to go to farm R.O.U.S. for xp. Second if there has been a bad storm recently thus raising the water levels in the storm drains forcing the rats and sewer crocs to duke it out in the alleys.
Sonicschilidogs
I heard some of the rats even know karate.
MisterBambu
are Skaven in 40k, I thought they were Fantasy andrews
dreikommavierzehn
yes. but they have the technology and the plot armor to just survive in 40k too. just drop them in and they'll be fine
MisterBambu
this is fair.
charliethewizard
Fighting off the NYC Rats
bassaro
What? Who do you think these men report to?
PacManDreaming
Actual photo of NYC gutter rat:
sevro77
Meanwhile, in Jersey:
BallsackHippo
Makes me remrmber, years ago, I read an article about s duo of garbage collectors earning in the 100K$+ a year. They were working unsafe new york areas at night. On occasions, they’d find bodies.
Nalianna
I trust each of these 4 people more than any cop i have ever met, or likely to meet.
wherethehorriblethingsare
I'd follow any of them into battle before Michael Flynn.
Sassquatch0
I'm only a lowly middle-school custodian/janitor.
I'd happily salute the garbage man - he's the one who cleans up all the shit mess I make.
InappropriateElephant
Dude the custodians at my schools growing up were always some of the coolest guys. The one in highschool didnt even narc on us when we stole his golf cart (we were going to bring it back) or were caught smoking weed in the dugout.
gardengnomeii
"Er, what acts of bravery in the face of combat earns you a ribbon as a garbage guy?" I work at a landfill. all of it.
CompressedInfo
As a New Yorker, I can say we know that we can't thank them enough. And they are well paid for their work.
Tengenstein
What's wrong with recognising people who do good work?
I mean its not like unsanitary living conditions killed more people during both world wars than enemy action...right?
TaiPan87
I don't think the issue is recognizing them. I think the decision to wear a military-style uniform is a comedic choice instead of, you know, a suit like a normal executive team.
It would be funny if dentists or social media managers did the same thing.
darthstormer
BastardMan1977
The garbage man can!
wadatahmydamie
That episode was so funny. Like come on, people wouldn’t vote for a big talk grifter with obvious bullshit promises over a dedicated civil servant with years of experience.
And even if they did, it wouldn’t crash the economy and destroy longtime institutions
AlmostClever
I've been getting a lot of use out of the closing speech from that episode lately: https://youtu.be/Yi0uX2sZuFg
ayers231
Trash collection is one of the most needed, yet most maligned jobs out there. Ask anyone that lived in an area where trash collectors went on strike, our lives quickly become hell without them.
emu314159127001
It's their secret. I never saw anyone come to school, telling you the great schedule, benefits, life/work balance etc. They just take the ones who hear the call
RXJ235231
It's NYC so trash collecting can be dangerous because people put a lot of hazardous stuff in the trash when they're not supposed to. Also, I remember hearing old stories of people fighting off rats when getting near a dumpster because NYC rats used to be very aggressive.
NotSomoneElse68
I put trash only next to sewage plumbing as the most life saving innovation of mankind.
mikeinthedirt3503
You know Abe Lincoln’s boy Willie died from bad water right next to the White House.
Pilgrymm
Here in San Diego we had trash piled up on the sidewalks for months while they striked. Absolute nightmare but I was on the side of the workers. At one point I rented a home depot truck and did a trash run to the dump just to stop the rats and raccoons from destroying bags.
ToSisPoS
Exactly so. Imagine a city where CEOs or professional sports players stopped working for a month. I would not bat an eyelash.
CptRobotNinja
Yeah I guess they're trying to throw shade on trash collectors but....we need those real bad. Much love for all my trashy bois and girls out there
Animorphs
I worked as a runner for the local trash company a summer in a rural county. Where for residential zones, I would run to each trash bin, bring it to the truck, hook it up. Dump it. On to the next one. You had to run. Was still a ten to twelve hour day. Hardest job i ever had.
mikeinthedirt3503
But were you a beast by the end of it? “WHAT’D YOU CALL ME, NORRIS? COME SAY THAT TO MY FACE!!”
Animorphs
Yeah I guess the cardio had me in decent ish shape. I was really fucking high most of that period of my life so I don’t remember tbh.
mikeinthedirt3503
That’s one path to the future. Buy the extra storage for the phone and take lots of snaps, k?
Roqinn
That work isn't easy either! I worked for a trash company for a VERY short time. We worked 18 hour days, 5 days a week. We had to do that because half the trucks were down usually. So the guy I worked with and I would go do the rural trash run and then had to go into the city to do that. I literally was told to run behind the truck and throw the trash in as it drove along.
StellarJay77
Also trash collectors need to deal with so much shit... Like literal shit daily.
charliethewizard
I remember years ago taking a trip to Venice Italy. I was up early one of the days and went out for coffee and something to eat. Happened to be the trash day. Just the nature of the city it has to go somewhere, ad it is vital it doesn't linger in the streets. Their trash collectors had some real hustle.
RainierCamino
Well said. It's a dirty and largely thankless job. And society almost immediately goes to shit without their service.
brattysubsam
And it ranks in the top 10 most dangerous jobs, unlike being a police officer
Strategicgnomer
Right? Anyone remember when all the cops in ny went on strike? What did the statistics say about the rise in crime rates? Oh, they dropped a little? Huh.
threepotatoesinatrenchcoat
I worked in Iraq as civil affairs, and one of our first goals was to get sanitation back up and safe enough that garbage collectors (and other sanitation workers) could do their job without armed escorts. It was quite difficult, and we were only moderately successful, but it made a massive difference
torokunai
no trash pickup is a governance crisis of the first order, requiring neighborhood mobilization stat
ripstripsart
“The person who picks up our garbage, in the final analysis, is as significant as the physician, for if he doesn’t do his job, diseases are rampant. All labor has dignity.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
hogeyegrex
Had a friend in the 80s who was a g-man. He got all kinds of stuff. Whole books of outdated scratchers. He’d pull all the broken Craftsman tools out of the Sears bin and return them to the same Sears for new ones. Hell of a guy.
iggylights
My old, very safe town had a campaign where people were putting signs on their lawns that said "We support our local police. They risk their lives to protect us every day". I took it upon myself to make up similar signs that said "We support our garbagemen. They are 3 times more likely than the police to be injured or killed on the job and they do something essential for you twice a week". Went and replaced as many as I could in the middle of the night. All the signs went away never replaced.
Delathi
Cops are trained to be cowardly. They aren’t even in the top 10 most dangerous jobs. And if you remove car accidents where the cop is the driver, they don’t even make the top 30 list.
WickedSludge
The same could be said for just about all blue collar workers. The only blue I back are the people that keep this country running with literally their bare hands.
TryHardEggplant
Hey. Some of them wear gloves. I’m pretty sure most trash collectors do. /s
mikeinthedirt3503
Tbf he’s channeling the BRAND of gloves, BEAR HANDS©️.
mikeinthedirt3503
Thank you; and you’re very welcome. I’m glad to do it, I like helping, and 6 figures is good enough, don’t need billions.
putcleverusernamehere
We could take this country back in a week if they'd stop going to work
b00guy
Sure but I don't think they should be dressing up like generals either. A polo and some slacks will do.
mikeinthedirt3503
There’s a little tongue-in-cheek there
Delathi
Maybe the generals are dressing up as garbage men, bet you didn’t think about that, did you?
b00guy
Hmm, it's a possibility, very sneaky.
MizzerCow
if cops and fire fighters can do it, why not sanitation workers?
b00guy
Agreed, they shouldn't get to either, if they want to dress up as soldiers then they should join the military.
HandsomePenguin
Why? Its a set of clothes.
swedeonamoose
Hell they missed our spot once and it turned into a gull party =_= fuckign trash all over the area since my dear neighbors saw it was full and decided to just leave the bag outside the bin
RainierCamino
One thing I don't miss about living on the coast, the fucking seagulls
HillOfBeans
TheGoudaKaramazov
Yup. I was walking to an important meeting when one shit on my head.
It had nearly dripped into my eye by the time I was able to run back into my house. At least everyone got a nice laugh when I told them why we had to reschedule...
RainierCamino
Spent several years in the navy. Nothing like getting shit on while on watch. Just cool, I get to hang out for four more hours with seagull shit on my shoulder. You can wipe it off but the smell doesn't go away.
TheGoudaKaramazov
Ugh. I remember that smell, now. At least I was able to run home and jump into a shower. Yours is worse.