Guidelines: Help Among the Heap

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By Simon Ambit

For the past two weekends and in conjunction with the Price City cleanup, Carbon County opened the landfill to free residential drop offs. We were thankful for this offer and spent the better part of one Saturday cutting Russian Olives and weeds as well as loading miscellaneous farm junk and hauling it all to the landfill. On one particular trip, my young daughter and I backed our flatbed trailer next to a box trailer where two men were working to shovel dried grass from inside.

My daughter stood on the front seat watching. As I removed the straps from the limbs loaded upon my trailer, the wind was blowing grass from my neighbor upwind and spattering each of us with every gust. I decided to join the two shoveling men and help in the grass unloading. We kindly made small talk until the trailer was empty, then parted ways.

With the wind now free of turf tufts and grass plumes, I began to unload my contributions to the existing piles. I dragged a couple of limbs from the entwinement of the trailer and began to turn around to get the next one, when I bumped into something. I spun around to see that I had bumped shoulders with one of the men for the trailer full of grass clippings.

Though I told them I would be fine doing the work alone, they kindly insisted they wanted to help and remained there until the entire heap of thorns, weeds, limbs and logs was offloaded. With a handshake and a thank you, we all three dusted ourselves off and climbed into our respective pickups. As I placed my young daughter back into her seat belt the other truck began to pull away, this three-year-old little girl stretched up to see over the dashboard and asked “Daddy, you helped and they helped?” I confirmed; she smiled and joyfully replied “that nice!”

I was grateful for the lessons observed and shared by my young daughter, right there in the wind and the heaps. So true are the simple words spoken from the mouth of this tiny little one; you helped and they helped, that (is) nice.

I am thankful that we live in an area where little things make a positive impact. My thanks go out to our local leaders who offer things like free landfill days. I express thanks to the two nameless gentlemen who showed me an act of kindness and left a positive impression upon my little angel.

Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert Comic strip once said, “Remember, there is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”

Life is good, go share some ripples!

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