The Recycling Police

Funny story, from a recent conversation with my mom. My grandfather (her dad) is very OCD and obsessively neat. Needless to say, rules are of a great concern to him, even at 83.

My mom was out of town with one of my little brothers recently, looking at colleges. My other brother stayed home, and my granddad also stayed there while they other 3 were gone (he has a separate "apartment" attached to the house).

Well, it was recycling day, so my grandad proceeded to get it ready, dumping everything into the bin. My brother Sean explained that they need to separate the paper from plastics and other stuff, as that's how they sort things in Illinois. My granddad was all sorts of upset, because he had a bunch of shredded paper in there too. "They don't recycle that way in California," he apologized.

They got it all worked out, and the recycling went out as usual. When my mom returned home a few days later, Sean told her about the incident, just because it was somewhat funny. Right after, my grandfather walked in, and my mom said, "Good thing you got all the paper out of there dad, otherwise the Recycling Police were likely going to write you a ticket!"

Of course she was kidding, but he got all pale and started looking worried. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, he asked, "Would they really give an old man a ticket?" My mom and little brother just about bust a gut laughing, but they had my poor, rule-abiding grandpa going for a few moments there. :)