Saturday, September 1, 2012

Break out the hand sanitiser...

A dramatic re-enactment
of Gary looking for the ring.
I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to dealing with anything icky.  If it's squishy, smelly, slimy or sticky, I'm pretty much guaranteed to take ludicrous measures to make sure I don't have to touch it with my bare hands.  You'd be surprised just how easy it is to make an emergency pair of plastic gloves out of a couple of zip lock bags, and the number of perfectly good Tupperware containers I've thrown out rather than clean out their contents ... well, I could quite easily have funded my Baskin  & Robins Rocky Road addiction with the savings if I didn't have to keep buying replacements.

So I've got to give full props to Gary Gaddist, a rubbish man in New York, who voluntarily went and hunted through mountains of refuse so he could find a woman's lost diamond ring.  How sweet is that!  He didn't even know her, and he was willing to rifle through bag after bag of other people's rotting takeaway, festering nappies and god knows what else, just so he could get back the diamond ring her husband gave her.

You, Garry, are an awesome person!  And as such, I'd like to offer you the Official Seal of Awesomeness!  I fully believe that behaviour like this should be encouraged, if for no other reason than that I'm selfish.  If other people are doing things like this, it mean I don't have to.

See, I like to think I'm a pretty good person, but I don't think I could be that selfless.  Sure, I'd sympathise with the woman, I'd feel bad for her, but I'd probably leave it at that.  I don't think I'd actually volunteer to hunt through all that bacterial laden garbage on the very slim chance that I might, possibly, if I'm really really lucky, get her ring back for her.  There ain't enough anti-bacterial wipes in the world to make that happen!

He found the precious!
Still, just because I'm an awful, selfish human being with little interest in making sacrifices for strangers, doesn't mean good old Gary didn't step up and do what needed to be done!  When asked why he bothered, he said it was because he could see how much the woman loved her husband.  Aww, selfless AND a romantic!  If it wasn't for the persistent odour and the threat of e-coli, I might even say he was quite the catch. 1.

But all this talk of lost rings and searching reminds me of something ... I can't help wondering if he scampered around that rubbish tip looking for the ring, rifling through the piles, muttering, "The precious!  We must finds the precious!"

I really, really hope he did.

1.  I'd like to state that this comment was made for comedic effect.  I'm sure Gary is delightfully scented and completely bacteria free. 

42 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Poor Gollum, I like to think he was just misunderstood ... like most psychopathic homicidal insane people.

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  2. If they remake the Lord of the Rings movies they should make them modernday and starring this Gary guy! He sounds cooler then Frodo!!

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  3. What a wonderful person he is!

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    1. It's a lovely, if gross, thing to do for another human being :D

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  4. Great posting. I thought the same thing after hearing that story. I have worked some dirty grungy get your hands dirty kind of jobs but couldn't even imagine digging into the trash to find a ring, the holy grail. :) Enjoyed reading your post!

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    1. I know! I'd probably be doing the math ... can I afford to replace it? Would it really be that bad if I had one less ring?

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  5. Stories like this restore my faith in humanity! It reminds me of when my husband and I went snorkeling on our honeymoon and he lost his wedding band in the ocean. A lifeguard dove into the sea and searched for it until he found it! We didn't even know the proper way to thank him so we just gave him ALL the money we'd packed for the day.

    Thanks for following, by the way, I've been through several of your posts and I think we are kindred spirits -- library employees, LOTR fans, nerdfighters. Nice to meet another geeky girl :)

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  6. I sure hope Gary got his "happy ending" after that ordeal!!!

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    1. LOL! And if he did, I hope the woman's husband never found out!

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  7. Love this story. I lost my bionator once in a trash at a pizza parlor. I had to dig through garbage. I think I scrubbed that thing and disinfected it so much it shrunk a little. I had to put it back in my mouth. Grossest thing I ever had to do.

    I would totally help a friend dig through garbage to find something, probably puking the whole time.

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  8. I hope Gary receives the Sanitation Worker of the Year award!

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  9. I bet chicks were lined up at his door for a chance to date such a sweetie. haha... For real though, I think she would have had to explain to the hubs that she threw that out. No way could I go through mounds of garbage. How big was the reward?! sheesh!

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    1. I hope so, and I hope my comment about his odour and bacterial standing won't discourage anyone! I'm sure he's as hygienically desirable as the next guy.

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  10. I love this post! So grossfully sweet :)

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    1. I know, nothing says random act of kindness like rifling through other people's rubbish.

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  11. What a great story! Gary does deserve special kudos! I totally agree about the "gross factor"....especially if there are those.....urg.....maggots, and crap like that. Ugh. I love your sense of humor.

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  12. I'm like you - I'd rather throw a perfectly good container away than deal with the fuzzy nastiness that it contains. Dig through trash? No thank you. But what a wonderful person our Gary is! Kudos to him and others who are likewise selfless.

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    1. I've thrown so many away it's ridiculous, but sometimes I'm not even brave enough to open them up.

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  13. After a long week of bad, I love the reminder that there is good. Yay Gary!

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  14. I betcha good ole' Gollum Gary is banging the lost ring lady - or he wishes he was!:O

    Cheers for the giggle! I'm passing the Liebster Award your way! The details are on my Across The Pond blog http://alia-cartwright.blogspot.com/2012/08/all-quiet-on-western-front.html

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  15. What a good guy! I don't like icky stuff either! Hubby is so good in the kitchen with all the stuff I don't like to touch. :)

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    1. I need to get me one of those. A husband, preferably one of the house variety. I need someone to clean, move heavy thing and open jars.

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  16. Thank you so much for becoming a follower of my nutty ramblings. It is appreciated. I love your fun reports. I am so with you on the germy, slime and smelly touching. Not going to happen! xo

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  17. Yeah.. I'm not a fan of icky either but.. I do what I need to do.. That garbage man was awesome.. What he did? Yeah.. Not so sure I could've done THAT!

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  18. "Festering Nappies" is the name of my punk revival band.
    Garry, while I don't support the superfluous "r" in your name, you are a better person than I. That lady lost her ring then tricked someone into doing her dirty work!?! Not a chance. I'd point the way to to the garbage get out the cell phone camera and let that dummy swim in the putrescence. If I was feeling real generous, I'd give her a stick to use.

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  19. Hello there Kelly!

    WELL this is a fabulous blog here! I love a creative mind and you certainly are inventive. I thank you for coming to join AND for leaving a comment. You caught me in the middle of making some changes to the appearance of my blog so bear with me. I hope to see you again! Anita

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  20. Aww, see Prince Charming does exists, though hoping he smells less like garbage and looks even less like Gollum.

    Oh the new episode of Doctor Who, which started today...you're gonna love it!

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    1. YAY! I'm SO excited about it! I'll be watching it soon with my Dad ... I wonder if I can convince him it's his father's day present...

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  21. I suppose I might do the same, if I were in Garry's shoes... his filthy, filthy shoes. I mean, you pretty much gotta figure that you'll end up smelling like garbage at the end of the day, whether you help her out or not. Also, you're wearing gloves, a sanitation worker's jumpsuit, and boots... so you're better equipped than a New York housewife to get down and dirty.

    Still... ugh... I don't think I'd find myself in Garry's shoes in the first place.

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    1. For Garry it's probably same old same old. I suppose when you work with rubbish every single day, it seems less icky.

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  22. Hahaha!!! Loved this post! I accidentally through out my mouth retainer one time, and had to go sorting through rubbish (at Hungry Jacks) to find it. Then I disinfected it for an entire day because retainers cost so much. Yep, not a proud moment, so definitely not worthy of a seal of awesomeness!

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