A sanitation worker from Atlanta, who has a wife and two young boys, was stupidly punished for actually doing his job. Kevin McGill was sentenced to 30 days in jail, which was reduced to two weekends behind bars when I guess authorities realized this was insanity, for collecting trash in the suburb of Sandy Springs a little too early in the morning.
Like many cities and towns, the very lovely and affluent Sandy Springs has a noise ordinance that states that "trash collection must be conducted between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m." I get it. People want to sleep and sanitation trucks are loud and obtrusive.
But McGill was reportedly new to the sanitation department and, for whatever reason, decided to collect the garbage on ONE day at around 5 a.m. A homeowner complained and, instead of issuing him a warning, the man was dragged to court and told that the only way the city feels workers will take the rule seriously is if they are forced to serve jail time.
McGill received the maximum penalty of 30 days in jail, which is ludicrous on so many levels, but especially because he is a first-time offender. His time was then reduced to two weekends behind bars and he gets to spend them surrounded by people who have pulled guns on innocent victims, committed burglaries, and worse. I wonder which inmate is going to have a sign on his head that reads "target?" Maybe the one who isn't an actual criminal?
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I'm just as guilty of rolling my eyes when a sanitation truck rolls down my street and wakes up my baby early in the morning. But such is life. Sometimes our home sanctuaries are going to be disrupted for the benefit of public health.
We should feel nothing but gratitude toward folks who work to make our homes and communities cleaner and more comfortable. Given the hell of a winter we're finally digging out of, and the fact that many sanitation workers were up at the crack of dawn to ensure our streets are safe, they're the last workers I'd come down on right now.
Give this poor man a break.
Do you think it was fair of this sanitation worker to get jail time for starting his job too early?
Image via p.Gordon/Flickr