Trash Talk

Most of us think of Norman Rockwell's classic painting from the "Four Freedoms" of the earnest looking guy in the leather jacket voicing his opinion at that time-honored New England forum, the annual town meeting, as a reflection of government in action. However, conflicting lifestyles and convoluted schedules have created a new political arena - the town dump.


My small town in Massachusetts is no exception. After all, where else do the die hard longtime residents , the upstart yuppies and everyone else who creates garbage- but like the implied machismo of transporting their own refuse as opposed to paying for pick up - eventually meet? Consequently, Saturdays are prime time for dump debates. By the way, you can really call it the dump anymore - it's the "transfer station" - which gives you the option of either throwing everything into one big garbage bag and paying the per bag fee, or separating out the plastic, cardboard, newspapers, bottles, etc. to show that you're ecologically attuned. I suppose the same rationale applies to the transfer of ideas.

Last weekend was no exception. As is usually the case, there were two opposing factions firmly entrenched below one of those grassy hummocks that look bucolic but actually conceal a heap of older garbage. The issue was a petition drive. Rather than going intro the fine points, each erstwhile dump visitor was giving the option of saying: "You know, your idea really stinks " or "How can you believe that garbage?". I can just imagine the poor town clerk who has to collate the completed forms; the odor must be quite distinctive, necessitating latex gloves and wide open windows, not to mention signatures obscured by tomato or motor oil stains.

I can see real potential in this new political forum. No matter how slick a Presidential campaign might be, holding a debate at the transfer station could act as a huge common denominator; it would be hard to entertain flights of rhetorical fancy amongst the fractured glass, twisted metal, and mountains of cardboard. In fact, the dump may become even more viable if campaign financing laws are radically altered. The idea of drive up voter registration could be combined with buying your dump "coupons"; after all, your residency status would be clearly delineated by the sticker on your windshield as well as the presence of those distinctive black plastic bags in the back of your minivan.

Come to think of it, maybe the town meeting should be held at the transfer station. The surroundings might help limit debate. After all, voters might be compelled to distinguish the important issues from those that will inevitably end up in the trash.