Is it OK to toss your trash into a neighbor's garbage can? Or into a city trash receptacle? Are there limits to this? Is it a minor offence or are your greatly offended to find another's trash…for you to manage? Read on, in the following story.
Today's word: le délit mineur
: misdemeanor, minor offence, minor crime
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE, by Kristi Espinasse
It all began with a very fishy story–this malentendu between my neighbor and me. And how ironic that the whole matter was cleared up the day I threw out the trash.
To be continued…. Sorry to have to cut the story in two. To make up for it, I've packed extra vocabulary in the first three paragraphs :-)
FRENCH VOCABULARY
le frigo = fridge
le délit mineur = misdemeanor
la poubelle = garbage
l'espadon (m) = swordfish
We received some encouraging feedback on Chapter 6 of the vineyard memoir Jean-Marc and I are writing together. I leave you with readers comments as well as another excerpt from The Lost Gardens.
[A] heart-wrenching telling of a trying period. So vividly told. I remember reading the "same" stories while you were living them, and you were similarly adept at making the period sound stressful but ultimately rewarding… –Janet
Your raw, honest account of how you really felt at this time is stunning. And your sincerity is overwhelming. This story from you and Jean-Marc , written individually in your own words, is brilliant. Looking forward to future chapters. Bravo! –Chris
CHAPTER 6 (excerpt from The Lost Gardens)
Reader feedback on Chapter 6 of The Lost Gardens:
How overwhelming it must have been to know you must help and figure what was needed to help your husband on your own. It must have been a physically demanding and draining experience. Certainly, the young female harvesters couldn't escape your notice. I am glad to hear that you had a "letting go" experience. It is so important to realize that we cannot control everything. –Teri
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Hi Kristi,
If we throw something stinky in our trash, the raccoons or the bear drop by and pull everything out. We have started keeping our trash can in the garage but we are thinking of getting a locking trash can!
If I have something that will be stinky in the trash, and pickup is days away, I just freeze it! Stops the smell. Now, to just remember it is there when trash day approaches!
That’s what I do too! There is a person in the village who throws her day’s leftovers in the trash can across the street from her front door. This is a small can meant for tourists and also the sacs pour les déjections des chiens. There is a sac dispenser by the can. I go by there with my dog for sacs and to dispose of sacs! The villages collects the garbage at your door twice a week, but she says she doesn’t want to wait.
Mostly I take the dog sacs home and store them at the front door in a closed container, but on longer walks I throw them in the can.
The village does empty the cans daily, so I guess it is not that bad of a thing for her to do. But we get a lot of tourists and the cans fill up quickly.
Don’t think too long – just go and do it!
Though I don’t know yet where this story is going, I do have a little tip about how to deal with something that’s gone bad or will smell up your poubelle for a week before the trash man comes again. Just put the offending item in a ziploc or other sealable plastic bag and put it in the freezer. No smell at all because it’s frozen. Then on the morning of garbage day (or the night before if they come really early) just put it in the trash can. It won’t thaw fast enough to cause a stink!
We take our food waste once per week to the bin at the local farmers’ market in our village. When we miss that day and time we put our food waste in the garbage can with a twist tie to prevent it spilling. It’s a little inconvenient to take the food waste into town, but we do it. I have to admit that the waste management is becoming more complicated as we receive postcards in the mail more and more frequently telling us which materials are compostable and which are not. C’est une science domestique!
Our dear Kristi,
There surely cannot be any problem with putting trash(or garbage) in a public poubelle???
I would be more concerned if it was someone’s private garbage can;our former neighbor did that most every trash day(he got up late and missed his own pickup),without asking permission(just tossed the lid aside–a no no because the cans had to be closed–and piled his on top of ours.)
Kristi,the latest chapter of Lost Gardens is wonderful!! Really well done,really speaks to all of us!So looking forward to the next one,and the one after that!
Love
Natalia. Xo
Our parks had to remove some trash cans because people were using it for their home trash. Now I have to carry my dog poop all the way home to dispose of :((
….I have done the same! I double zip-lock baggie it and freeze ait and then on pick-upday..away it goes! Greatminds think alike!
I freeze any left over meat and fish, even small amounts, then put them into the trash bin the night before it is collected. If I miss the pick up then it stays in the freezer, no smells!
Your alternative rubbish disposal for old fish: chickens. 🙂
Can hens eat rotten food, too? They do get the other leftovers and are terrific little waste disposers 🙂
Chere Kristi,
Apres beaucoups d’anneesvj’espere que vous savez que vous ettes la grand amour de Jacqes toujours, Merci que vous avez continue a ecrire.