Kentucky Garbage Man Hadn't Seen Elderly Woman's Trash Can Out

[Bayard]

Kentucky Garbage Man Hadn't Seen Elderly Woman's Trash Can Out, Rightly Felt Something Was Amiss.

Jake Bland has dual roles at his job at Hometown Hauling, a refuse collection company in Louisville, Kentucky.

He’s the operations manager and he’s also on the truck picking up his customers trash.

He noticed that one of those on his route, an elderly single woman, hadn’t put out her trash for two weeks...he felt...he knew...that something just wasn’t right. So instead of just moving along without a second thought, he called his dispatcher, Bernice Arthur, and voiced his concerns.

She called the 90 year old customer and was relieved that she answered the phone, but was heartbroken when she found out why she hadn’t taken out her trash.

She didn’t have any.

Said Bernice, "She just didn't have anything to eat….and that's why she had no trash to put out there."

For over two weeks, because her caregiver quit over pandemic fears, she had no way to get food or even leave the house, as she is wheelchair bound.

And she ran out of food.

Ten days before.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/5/16/1945402/-Kentucky-Garbage-Man-Hadn-t-Seen-Elderly-Woman-s-Trash-Can-Out-Rightly-Felt-Something-Was-Amiss?utm_campaign=trending

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Her caregiver quit.

And clearly there was no one else to take care of her.

We're going to hear a lot more stories like this.

So glad Jake was paying attention and did the right thing.

[Maru Kitteh]

4. Her "caregiver" had a duty to make sure this vulnerable person was

taken over by some other responsible party. That caregiver should be up on charges.

[dsc]

5. I would say if there was a company hold the company liable

but if she was a private one, then yes, hold her accountable.

[Skittles]

7. I agree with this assessment

that should just be common courtesy, wtf

[LiberalArkie]

18. The caregiver was more than likely worried that the lady who could not leave the house

would catch the Covid from one of the care givers that are out and about seeing to many other people.

[Maru Kitteh]

20. If this caregiver quit, that was not their decision to make. They had a duty

and should face consequences. There is no excuse for this from a "caregiver."

[Ilsa]

38. Yes, this was patient abandonment, IMO. nt

[quakerboy]

43. Id urge caution before condemnation

Caregivers have to quit or move on regularly. They are usually poorly paid, often people with significant lack of privilege, barely making due. People who are barely making it. A kid out of school? A partner loses a job? a car dies, or they get the flu, etc, they move on because they have to.

Caregivers are rarely if ever expected to find their own replacement. You're lucky if you get a couple weeks notice to try and find a replacement. More often you get a call that AM stating they will not be able to come back.

[meadowlander]

44. Or picked up by ICE.

In a perfect world, yes we would all have spare capacity to worry about making sure our duties are covered after we quit our job but I don't think it's a moral obligation to keep working after we are no longer being paid to do a job.

She owed some notice and a call to social services if the woman had no family to look after her. But we don't know the circumstances she left under or what the situation was.

[Wounded Bear]

2. K & R...for visibility...nt

[redstatebluegirl]

3. K&R

[Faux pas]

6. ...

[UpInArms]

10. +1

[LittleGirl]

33. Me too

[Moostache]

8. My god...my heart cannot keep breaking into smaller pieces...I fear there will be nothing left...

Thank god for men like Jake Bland, for empathy and kindness and an example that we can cling to in a sea of greed, anger and hate.

I feel so overwhelmed most of the time these days, I have since this all started. My life at work has gone on virtually unchanged while the entire world around me has been shattered and splintered and turned into an unrecognizable mash. Mortality and morality collide and it feels at times like I'm just lost. Pieces of my soul are split off every time I read another story of a shooting for senseless reasons, tales of science and nursing and doctors being attacked as fakers and frauds while the snakeoil salesmen go on and on and on...

Stories of kindness and love are never the biggest or flashiest, but I need them all now...and I am sure I can't be alone.

[Maru Kitteh]

21. You are most certainly not alone. I, for one, feel the same as you.

Every day.

[lunatica]

22. You speak for me too

I cry in grief all the time Now. Even when something good happens out of the kindness of people’s unselfish acts to help others. Even when I’m not actively crying, the tears are there just under the surface.

Yet at the same time I feel I need to pay attention and bear witness to all of it. I’ve used the stimulus money to help with donations where I can. Especially donating to food banks because I can't stand that anyone should go hungry. It is the most basic human need. Nothing else matters if you go hungry. I haven’t spent it all because I want to continue to help in the future because the problems are not going away anytime soon.

[barbtries]

25. I cannot recommend this youtube channel enough.

I cry and cry when I watch, but it's a good cry.

it's SomeGoodNews, or SGN with John Krasinski. He just started this channel during the quarantine. It's the most heartening and heartwarming thing.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOe_y6KKvS3PdIfb9q9pGug


we live in unprecedented times, and it is hard. SGN reminds me that there actually are absolutely fabulous, wonderful people all over the world, and they care about each other and everyone just as you do.

[Upthevibe]

48. barbtries.....Yes! I have been recommending Some Good News

to everyone! John Krasinski stole my heart in The Office and people have raved about his movie, (I missed it at the theatre but it's definitely on my list to stream) A Quiet Place, in which John stars, directs, and co-wrote.

SGN is in my rotation of must sees every week. Thank you so much for your post....

[barbtries]

49. you're very welcome.

i've also shared it on fb and talked about it to several people. it's so uplifting, I love it.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

35. There are a lot of good people out there whose acts do not make the news.

[IronLionZion]

9. Is Meals on Wheels working these days

or did GOP find some "efficiencies" by "cutting waste and fraud" from the budget?

It's very nice of Jake Bland to do this, but there must be some services for the other elderly in similar situations out there.

[Hekate]

11. Dunno. My brother up in Oregon got signed up, & it was 2 meals a week.

I don't know how things stand now -- my other brother in California has been on the case.

[ancianita]

12. So far Meals On Wheels is working for my neighbor. They drop off 5 meals once a week.

I'm in FL, the other weird state.

[zeusdogmom]

24. It varies from place to place.

Many areas have a very long waiting list because of limited budgets. I know here in the Columbus Ohio area, there was room a couple of weeks ago for additional clients because of some very generous corporate/private funding.

Like any safety net program, Meals on Wheels is dependent on funding from various places and there are seldom enough dollars to go around. Sadly that situation is not going to improve anytime soon.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

40. Yet billionaires get trillions.

[Pugee]

37. Home Delivered Meals

Our senior center is still delivering, although the senior center is closed and people cant just drop in and hang our or eat there anymore. I wanted to donate part of my stimulus check and that is where I choose to donate. They are still feeding hundreds of elderly in my area daily and checking up on them.

[melm00se]

47. Less than 1% of MOW's revenue comes in the form

of government grants.

[tblue37]

13. That's so touching. Good people, no matter whom they voted for. nt

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

14. KNR

[SharonClark]

15. My Mom's postal carrier has "adopted" her and checks on her

Brings her mail to the door, wheels her garbage bins back to the garage, waves and calls out to her when she's outside.
He's a sweet young man.

[LuckyLib]

32. The real saints among us. They're out there.

[crickets]

16. Thank goodness someone came to her rescue.

She would have died. We all need to keep an eye out for our neighbors. You never know.

[Lucinda]

17. ...

[appalachiablue]

19. What a story, glad the woman was contacted and ok, but

since she's in a wheelchair there must still be a need for a daily care worker to assist with other tasks.

My heart goes out to this lady and all of the people in similar situations.

~ There but for the grace of God, go I.

[warmfeet]

23. We are all our brothers and sisters keepers.

We all need to look out for each other, damn it.

[diva77]

26. USPS workers also encounter such situations and act with compassion

-- yet another reason to support & strengthen the USPS.

K&R

[DeminPennswoods]

27. Fortunately there are many kindnesses like

this going on everywhere, many times everyday.

[SoonerPride]

28. That story was heart wrenching in the extreme.

[kairos12]

29. Essential worker. Hedge fund managers can go F... themselves.

[Duppers]

30. Jake, you did good!

Poor Bernice, her caregiver let her down and I bet she has a touch of dementia at age 90 and didn't know where to turn for help.

It's troubling to think how many more Bernice's there are out there.




Thanks for posting this, Bayard.

[Duppers]

31. A p.s.

I hope they don't place her in a nursing home but they might. Nursing homes are petri dishes these days. Sigh.

[jeffreyi]

34. Damn.

Infuriating. Y'know, when all else fails, we can still be good to one another.

[onecaliberal]

36. My god...

[stopwastingmymoney]

39. Check on your neighbors everybody

Especially the elder ones who live alone

[niyad]

41. Just in my little circle, we all have people we check on, text, or call every day. And we check in

with each other.

[niyad]

42. Heartfelt KNR. Blessings to Jake, blessings to Bernice. And may that caregiver get exactly

What she deserves.

[ProfessorGAC]

45. Jake Is A Good Guy!

To the extreme!

[MFGsunny]

46. OTOH, I choose to celebrate Jake Bland. YES, he puts #truth to the adage:

to the adage:

"There are angels walking among us, dressed as people."

Who may also be an operations manager for trash hauling.