Learn The Law Of The Garbage Truck
Written on September 20, 2007 by Tezza
Thursday’s weekly guide to Personal Growth from 4EvaYoung.com
I found this great article that I know most of us will be able to relate too. I loved it so much that I contacted the author David J. Pollay and here it is republished with his permission.
How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important.
Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened:
I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, the car skidded, the tires squealed and at the last moment the car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.
And what did we see next? The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started swearing at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face.
And then here’s what blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.” He said:
Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.
So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.
So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want the garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”
I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” where the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well and move on.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more Garbage Trucks pass you by?
And my taxi driver was right. I am happier.
David J. Pollay is a syndicated columnist with North Star Writers Group, and an internationally sought-after speaker and seminar leader on how to build positive momentum in your business and life.
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Thanks for posting such an inspirational story. I’m going to try to let garbage trucks pass me by from now on!
Frank, Thanks for your kind words. I think we can all benefit from letting garbage trucks pass us by =)
ok. i dig the gist of the piece…though i have to ask, what are we trying to achieve in our lives? what do we want? why are we always trying to separate and isolate? we’re all garbage trucks! where is the love? the connection? how will we ever transform, morph, and evolve on a conscious level? here is only a passing coment, that’s all…
perhaps it’s not about “you” feeling happier, but about
understanding what is happening. i think we spend far too much time
looking for short cuts to ‘feeling better.’ maybe the problem resides in all
this “you” and “i” business!
m. very thought provoking questions you present. I think you have a great point. I do also believe that in order to change the world we need to begin with the person we see in the mirror. So since we are all garbage trucks, if we can but only change that aspect of our personal lives then I think that is a positive for your world, and a positive for the world at large =)
yes. so true. as mj sang, “i’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways!” great song. but rumi sang a different song so many years ago that went a little deeper…’polish the mirror of your heart that you may become a clear reflection of truth.’
so i say this in good humour: i say we can look in the mirror all we want; in fact, we do a little a too much of that in this day and age…change happens on so many levels as we all know, but are we ready and willing to go as far as we need to…to the core? or are we mere reflections of an increasingly superficial age? so, my dear friends, as robert tepper hit the nail on the head in his lyrics to the rocky story “there’s no easy way out” indeed “there’s no short cut home.”
It is good to see you on this awesome blog Mr M.
I think you always present things in a way that makes us all think and as Tezza said, you definitely raise
a great point. The I and You business makes things a little more complicated then it needs to be - “after all
we all end up at the same place at the end of the day” (quoting my friend john). But I think the beauty of it may lie in the brutal fact that in our present state we are ONE whether we like it or not, whether we realise it or not.
Although there are some of us who decide to travel the road less travelled and end up “at the core” and realising this brutal fact consciously. Whether we do or not does not make us better or worse, just different.
mr. mas. you are right that the “you” and “i” business is unecessary and complicated indeed, thus the point. do away with that and then see what’s left! “who” then is left to be offended by the garbage trucks?!
a medieval chevalier once said, “chivalry, is to consider oneself as lesser, and to hold in reverence the worth of others.”
my friend, all i’ve been trying to say in reply to “the law of the garbage truck” is that we should be loving towards all creatures and appreciate what ever kindness they show us, and to overlook their flaw so that in this way, we may enjoy a spiritual heaven in this world.
in such light, what place is there for “better” or “worse” or even “different?”
m. and mas…great discussion. I think to have reached a place in your life where you can overlook the garbage trucks and find the beauty in humanity is admirable. I do feel though that many off us struggle with this and need to be consciously making an effort in order to react the way the taxi driver managed to react to the situation. Sure we may all end up in the same place at the end of our lives, so it’s prudent to let the small stuff just slide off our backs. I’d rather enjoy this life than to always be in conflict with the world. =)
so what do you guys think about this:
whether there is conflict between you and the world or not is ultimately part of the same thing. conflict must exist so there can be peace. bad must exist so there can be good - so when you think about it our preferences of being in or out of conflict ultimately dont affect the whole thing…
mas. That is an interesting argument. While I agree you can’t appreciate light without also have experienced darkness. I think to stay in a state of darkness is also not healthy. The Law of the Garbage Truck I think gives you a simple tool to consciously appreciate your light and stay in it.
What would the person who looks at life in 11 dimensions say to someone who looks at it with 3 dimensions?
mr. vibrations is a clever cat!
a sensible answer tezza to mas. which reminds me:
mas. there is only light, truth, and love. the rest is only an absence thereof to degrees. its simple. there is no literal distinction. that’s the illusion. try and see it that way. also, everything we do is in effect the will of the source. and surely, no mistake about it, there is an effect on the whole thing. that is the beauty of the belief ‘that you start with yourself’ and that even a change in one person can mean a happier world. in remembering that its quality not quantity.. a qualitative change in one goes a long way for the world at large.