Let’s talk about barrels
Let’s talk about barrels. Specifically, the new robot-ready Casella barrels mandated by Concord General Services, which require incipiently elderly folk like the writer to wrestle unwieldy 35-pound objects to the curb on a weekly basis. Yes, they’re on wheels, but my 120-foot drive is badly crowned, so they tend to tip. And half the winter, said driveway is an ice-rink; I see a broken hip in my future. (Speaking of winter, where do they go when the drifts are a yard high? And who’s going to shovel out that space? Oh, right — my 73-year-old self.)
But never mind all that. This innovation allows Casella to man, or rather un-man, its trucks with a single driver instead of a crew. I’m sure this will enhance the firm’s bottom line to the tune of, oh, shall we say $0.03 per share? Yay. (The Cassella CEO’s total compensation was $4,405,946 in 2025. Is this a great country or what?) And don’t worry about those laid-off truck crew. They can be re-trained as drive-thru window jocks.
This is America today writ small. I am not a Luddite (well, maybe a little), nor a Grumpy Old Man (see previous claim) but are we really better off for this sort of deregulated innovation? Are we really better off mailing off our many, many, tax dollars to out-source the next generation’s education to the Archdiocese, assorted other religious schools, and doubtless-well-intentioned home-schoolers?
Think about it. I do, every day.