A November Thursday in Fort William in the early 1980s. My mate John Milligan has brought up a Glover Webb Refuse Collection Vehicle on Demo for Lochaber District Council and as is the custom, is expected to travel in it round a collection route with the crew. It hasn’t stopped raining all day.
Around 2.30pm, a Loader knocks the Driver’s window. The driver winds it down three inches and asks ‘whit’? The reply: ‘Ah think ah’ve shit masell’
The driver tells him ‘well we hinnae much mair tae dae so jist cairry oan ‘til we get feenished’.
John spends the next 20 minutes contemplating sharing a crew cab with a soaking crew, compounded by one of them having a bowel control problem.
They finish the round and the Loaders troop round to get in to the cab. ‘Whaur dae ye think you’re gaw’in?’ the driver asks the shitten Loader. ‘Back tae the depot wi youse’ is the reply.
‘That’ll no dae, Wullie, this man his tae drive his motor back tae Glesca the night and it’s no’ fair if he his tae suffer the smell o’ a shite o’ yours a’ that distance. Ye’ll jist hae to walk back hame yersel’.
And the last John saw of him was a bedraggled craiter trudging away in the downpour with a peculiar gait……..
(As told to me by John Milligan!)
– Written by John Crawford, CIWM Life Member