“One time I was like, no, Jon, we’ll never make that deadline, and then he roundhouse kicked the project in the face and we beat the deadline by 7 weeks. It was either Jon or Chuck Norris, I can’t remember.”
Best LinkedIn Recommendation Ever
Category: Business
Don’t Kill Ideas – Morph Them
Never Let the Garbage Truck Run Over You (Email I Received)…
The Law of the Garbage Truck
How to Keep Others’ Negativity from Affecting You
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? However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what’s important.
David J. Pollay explains his story in this way….
The Taxi Cab Story
Sixteen years ago, I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!
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. 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 almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!”
And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.”
“
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 need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happy you did.
“
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, on the streets? It was that day I said, “I’m not going to do it anymore.”
Life Principles to Remember
Life is Short
Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets.
Value Good Relationships
Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t.
Trust the Journey
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
Never let the garbage truck run over you….
Applying the Law in Daily Life
At Work
- Respond to criticism professionally without internalizing negativity
- Avoid office drama and gossip chains
- Focus on solutions rather than problems
In Relationships
- Set healthy boundaries with chronically negative people
- Choose not to take others’ bad moods personally
- Be empathetic without absorbing emotional toxicity
In Public
- Stay calm during traffic incidents or rude encounters
- Smile and move on from unpleasant interactions
- Remember that most negative behavior isn’t about you