There was a time when our binmen were true professionals. They hoisted our metal bins on their shoulders and dumped the contents into that quaint lorry with the slidey side doors. They took pride in their work and had a relationship with their clients which usually climaxed with a knock on the door at Christmas at which point either money or cigarettes changed hands.
They knew a lot of things, not all of which came from observing the rubbish as it left the bin. They knew, for example, that they were binmen.
And today, even in the face of this awful tragedy, the sub headliner at the Press Association does the honours.
Having passed through the politically correct extavagance of things like "refuse disposal engineer" the media eventually tended to settle for more prosaic titles like "waste worker" (per the Irish Times).
However, given the behaviour of the current crowd, who not only treat the plastic bins as if they were made of titanium but then plonk them in the middle of the driveway so you have to shift them to get your car back in, I think a more appropriate title would be "Rubbish Collector" with all the ambiguity that title implies.
