Had a friend that worked for the waste management department of a nearby coastal town.
One day they were picking up the 55 gallon drums the city used a waste bins on the main street. They usually had small holes drilled in the bottom so as to let water and whatever wet that got in the barrels drain (yes, they did have industrial bin liners in them, but invariably someone would throw in a bottle and it would break and poke holes through, so there was always soupy garbage goo in the bottom…)
Did I mention the barrels usually had holes drilled in them?
Not this one.
Friend was lifting it onto the rack body municipal truck and the kid on the truck grabs the bottom of the barrel that is sitting on the lip of the truck bed and tilts it back… so the sludge runoff runs out, right into friend’s face - as he is telling the kid to watch out as the bottom of that barrel seems a bit wet…
Straight into his mouth, nose and eyes… It was shades of the Toxic Avenger, as he went right to the ground, choking and spluttering.
I saw him a few hours later and he’d gotten blazing drunk so as to put so much vodka into his system, no germs would survive. We agreed after much deliberation, he was either a dead man walking or he’d boosted his immunity to every disease known to man and had gained immortality.
There’s fierce chemistry and biology in dumpsters, bins and barrels.
We never found out if he was gifted immortality from the garbage soup as he was also a raging alcoholic and drank himself into liver failure a decade later. :(
Yeah, when I saw him later that day, the way he told the story was pretty hilarious. He was wearing hiw work coat which was on the porch railing as I cam to the front dor and it was still damp and reeked with the stink of death.
It was the work coat that prompted me to ask what the hell happened, and we were off and running with the tale of woe.
He was one of the funniest, most creative guys I’ve ever met. Miss him fiercely.
so as to put so much vodka into his system, no germs would survive
I know this is just an aside, and not the main point of your story, but for everyone watching from home, drinking alcohol actively sabotages your body’s ability to fight off infections.
We use alcohol to disinfect things, but only between 60-80%. Higher than that, and there’s not enough water to effectively deliver the alcohol molecules to the cell membranes where they’ll do their work. Lower than 50%, and the alcohol molecules aren’t concentrated enough to effectively destroy most bacterial membranes. That means pouring regular old 80 proof/40% vodka isn’t going to effectively disinfect things on contact.
And even if you’re drinking high proof spirits, beyond the 40% minimum of most vodkas, once it’s in the body it gets diluted down at least 2 orders of magnitude, to where the blood alcohol concentration of anything under the coma-inducing/deadly 0.4% is basically negligible in terms of damaging the cells of unwanted microbes. But while your body works to rid your body of that poison, your immune system is weakened, and will do a worse job of preventing those unwanted microbes from taking hold in your system.
Had a friend that worked for the waste management department of a nearby coastal town.
One day they were picking up the 55 gallon drums the city used a waste bins on the main street. They usually had small holes drilled in the bottom so as to let water and whatever wet that got in the barrels drain (yes, they did have industrial bin liners in them, but invariably someone would throw in a bottle and it would break and poke holes through, so there was always soupy garbage goo in the bottom…)
Did I mention the barrels usually had holes drilled in them?
Not this one.
Friend was lifting it onto the rack body municipal truck and the kid on the truck grabs the bottom of the barrel that is sitting on the lip of the truck bed and tilts it back… so the sludge runoff runs out, right into friend’s face - as he is telling the kid to watch out as the bottom of that barrel seems a bit wet…
Straight into his mouth, nose and eyes… It was shades of the Toxic Avenger, as he went right to the ground, choking and spluttering.
I saw him a few hours later and he’d gotten blazing drunk so as to put so much vodka into his system, no germs would survive. We agreed after much deliberation, he was either a dead man walking or he’d boosted his immunity to every disease known to man and had gained immortality.
There’s fierce chemistry and biology in dumpsters, bins and barrels.
We never found out if he was gifted immortality from the garbage soup as he was also a raging alcoholic and drank himself into liver failure a decade later. :(
I’m sorry to hear about your friend, but also jealous that he didn’t have to live through the AI Slopocene era.
And your story is equal parts hilarious and terrifying. Bravo.
Yeah, when I saw him later that day, the way he told the story was pretty hilarious. He was wearing hiw work coat which was on the porch railing as I cam to the front dor and it was still damp and reeked with the stink of death.
It was the work coat that prompted me to ask what the hell happened, and we were off and running with the tale of woe.
He was one of the funniest, most creative guys I’ve ever met. Miss him fiercely.
Great story. Sorry about the end, though.
I know this is just an aside, and not the main point of your story, but for everyone watching from home, drinking alcohol actively sabotages your body’s ability to fight off infections.
We use alcohol to disinfect things, but only between 60-80%. Higher than that, and there’s not enough water to effectively deliver the alcohol molecules to the cell membranes where they’ll do their work. Lower than 50%, and the alcohol molecules aren’t concentrated enough to effectively destroy most bacterial membranes. That means pouring regular old 80 proof/40% vodka isn’t going to effectively disinfect things on contact.
And even if you’re drinking high proof spirits, beyond the 40% minimum of most vodkas, once it’s in the body it gets diluted down at least 2 orders of magnitude, to where the blood alcohol concentration of anything under the coma-inducing/deadly 0.4% is basically negligible in terms of damaging the cells of unwanted microbes. But while your body works to rid your body of that poison, your immune system is weakened, and will do a worse job of preventing those unwanted microbes from taking hold in your system.