No garbage trucks

David Pollay is author of the book The Law of the Garbage Truck: How to Stop People from Dumping on You. In it Pollay narrates his life-changing experience.

He asks, “How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.”

At the back of a New York City taxicab, David Pollay learned what he would later dub as “The Law of the Garbage Truck^®.”

They were driving on the way to the Grand Central Station when a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of them. His taxi driver slammed on the brakes and missed the other car’s rear-end by just an inch!

“I couldn’t believe it,” he recounts. “But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it!

“But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, ‘Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!’ And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck^®.’ He said:

“‘Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.’

“So I started thinking, how often do I let garbage trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, ‘I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.’”

David Pollay learned a valuable lesson that day. He processed the negative experience and turned it into a golden opportunity to become better.  Now he shares his story to audiences everywhere through his talks and his book.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let “Garbage Trucks” take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life if, starting today, you let more “Garbage Trucks” pass you by? I believe that you’ll be happier. I guarantee it.

There will be people dumping their garbage on us. But now I realize that these people are probably hurting. This is why they have a tendency to hurt others.

Do not allow these garbage trucks to determine how your day will become. Embrace truth, be gentle, and know that in all things God is still in control and trusting Him makes sense.

The Psalmist says, “In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?” Now that’s the best garbage truck buster you can ever have.

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