my brother and the garbage man

The muse struck me with a vengeance, but it was short lived as you will see.
I finished first grade at Carl Sandburg Elementary in San Bruno California. At that time My brother would have been 3 years old I think. I remember he had two favorite toys, one was a police car made by Mattel. He loved it so much that he spent one morning pounding it bang bang bang flat with a silver hammer. His other favorite toy was a little two wheeled scooter made out of bright yellow and orange plastic of the type that the “Big Wheels” of the 70's were made of.. He used it so much that he wore holes on the wheels. I remember thinking that they should have been made out of something real, like good old fashioned rubber...anyway, my brother was totally impressed with the garbage man. The garbage man had a great big dump truck and he came once a week with a big impressive bang and crash, then he'd bump and rumble away with all the romance and valor of a modern day action hero. As the trash collector moved on my brother would follow him on his rounds. His little scooter didn't come equipped with GPS, so he got lost lost and didn't find his way back home so my mom had to go out all over the neighborhoods looking for him. It got quite dramatic because it would be hours before he'd be found. It's probably a good thing that the wheels were made out of plastic and not rubber.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to chase trash trucks,
let them build plenums and peddle cold air.
Momma's don't let your babies grow up to chase trash trucks,
They'll never stay home cuz they're hero's a sanitation engineeeeeeeeer

But a Trane man's good man,
he grew past the trash can
and now he's got a wheelin dealin real estate careeeeeer.