In the old days the Bin men had a very hard time of it, with the metal dustbins full of ashes from the coal fires. One or two of them hated the job so much they took it out on the local people on the round.
I remember a sweet old lady who lived by us and was very particular about keeping her house spick and span, her doorstep gleamed like a shiny new bar of soap.
One day the Bin men were a bit late and she asked politely why this was so, she received a mouthful from a big red faced Bin man who was well known for his bad temper and of his hate of dogs. His parting words of threat to the old lady "I'll remember where you live" and he scowled his way around the rest of the neighbourhood.
The dogs in the road must have sensed this Bin man was horrible, because they used to follow the bin cart when he rode on the back of it, trying to snap at his Wellington boots with their sharp teeth. He would lash out and try to kick the dogs away from him, they would follow him for miles.
The red faced Bin man did remember were the old lady lived and scowled at her when she looked out of her window, he would deliberately spill ashes onto her doorstep. He treated this as revenge for as he saw it the old lady had moaned about them being late.
This went on for some weeks, this big brute of a man would have frightened many a frail, thin old lady, but not this time, beneath her quite personality lived an iron will, not to be beaten.
Another week later, when it was going dark, the old lady nipped out around the back to where the bins were kept. She placed half a dozen old house bricks in the bottom of her dustbin, then proceeded to find anything heavy she could to make the bin's weight feel like lead, she then tipped her usual household rubbish on top, finishing off with the ashes from the coal fire. The old lady retired to bed with a warm glow of revenge filtering over her whole body, sending her into a lovely sleep.
When the dogs started to bark you knew the Bin men where on their way. The old lady stood by her net curtain and waited for the Bin men to do the round, the big red faced man scowled at her, he was never going to let the old lady forget him in a hurry. He reached down to pick up the dustbin, suddenly he felt the weight, which was three times it's usual, he struggled and struggled but he was determined to lift the bin at all costs. He wasn't going to be beaten by it, he was now going bright purple in the face and out of the corner of his eye could see the old lady waving and smiling at him.
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