While much of this disfavor is well earned, I'd like to offer up a little bit of the good side. Specifically, Ruben Gonzalez, supervisor of The Bridgeport Department of Public Works, who went above and beyond the call of duty to help a little old lady find her purse; That little old lady was my mother and that purse was one which accidentally got taken out with the recycling bin.
Labor Day Monday, after fielding a tearful call from my mom, Ruben went to her house, took all her information and a description of the purse and the circumstances, then started making phone calls to see which truck picked up her bin. All the trucks had already unloaded for the day, so he learned the purse was somewhere buried within the city's tons of recycling. The fact the purse was inside a brown paper bag when it was put out with the bin only added to the hopelessness of the situation.
Undaunted, Ruben reassured my sobbing mother they would find it and asked her to give him 24 hours.
Mom didn't sleep a wink that night; she cried, she worried, she berated herself for putting her purse in a brown paper bag.
Well, her sleepless night was in vain. Ruben called first thing in the morning and told her the good news; He and 4 workers sifted through countless pounds of debris and recovered her purse with her wallet and belongings still intact. He even made a special trip to her house to drop it off to her personally. She was ecstatic, to say the least.
Thank you, Mr Gonzalez. That's what I call Public Works.
