bureaucrats gone wild
it's springtime in shangri-lowell, and i guess everyone is feeling their oats. to wit: saturday, at the semi-annual household hazardous waste day at cawley stadium, where downtown residents can bring their toxic chemicals but NOT their plastic, glass and aluminum recycling, (because, you know, owing to the priorities and policies set by the city recycling and solid waste coordinator, downtown residents just can't bring their plastic, glass and aluminum recycling anywhere at all), city recycling and solid waste coordinator, gunther wellenstein, allegedly (i wonder if that is allegedly, as in, "allegedly, downtown residents can't recycle their plastic, glass and aluminum"?) assaulted an off-duty cop for having the temerity (according to the newspaper report here) to put out his city-authorized material (in this case, one slightly used sofa, which is not to be confused with city-un-authorized material, like, say, for example, downtown plastic, glass and aluminum recycling) a couple days early.
now, i can't say whether or not the city trash regulations for single-unit dwellings do or do not allow the setting out of authorized material before its pick-up day of the week, as i am only obsessed with the city trash regulations for multi-unit dwellings that prohibit the placing out of plastic, glass and aluminum recycling on, before or after all days of the week, but i can say that when bureaucrats become so full of themselves that they feel it necessarily to (possibly/allegedly violently) confront other citizens over the enforcement of their little petty bureaucratic tyrannies, that other other citizens will have something snarky to say about it.
the funniest part, i think, having met mr. wellenstein in person several times to discuss the fact that residents of multi-unit dwellings are denied the privilege of plastic, glass and aluminum recycling services, as are afforded other citizens for the same tax dollars, is picturing him having "poked him in the chest and bumped the officer's head with the brim of a cap". if only there would be cell phone video from civilian bystanders!
gunther, in all sincerity, i hope you get a 100% fair shake from the judicial process, and that the outcome is exactly as is deserved.
now, i can't say whether or not the city trash regulations for single-unit dwellings do or do not allow the setting out of authorized material before its pick-up day of the week, as i am only obsessed with the city trash regulations for multi-unit dwellings that prohibit the placing out of plastic, glass and aluminum recycling on, before or after all days of the week, but i can say that when bureaucrats become so full of themselves that they feel it necessarily to (possibly/allegedly violently) confront other citizens over the enforcement of their little petty bureaucratic tyrannies, that other other citizens will have something snarky to say about it.
the funniest part, i think, having met mr. wellenstein in person several times to discuss the fact that residents of multi-unit dwellings are denied the privilege of plastic, glass and aluminum recycling services, as are afforded other citizens for the same tax dollars, is picturing him having "poked him in the chest and bumped the officer's head with the brim of a cap". if only there would be cell phone video from civilian bystanders!
gunther, in all sincerity, i hope you get a 100% fair shake from the judicial process, and that the outcome is exactly as is deserved.
posted by kad barma at 2:34 PM
3 Comments:
I couldn't believe the headline Monday morning...my first reaction -- regardless of what actually happened, my takeaway is that this guy cares tremendously about his job. On that level alone, Mr. Wellenstein scores points in my book, because there are way too many people who don't.
The five-letter answer to the crossword clue "To Act Unprofessionally" a few months ago
was EMOTE.
Maybe there's something to that, but there's gotta be a place for passion, and righteous anger, too.
Wait...a poke and a bump with the brim of a hat is now assault and battery? That seems a little bit absurd. Well, the whole thing seems a little absurd.
Around town, Gunther is known as The Recycling Nazi. A little too pushy and a little to secure in his mission for a lot of folks liking. Just because your cause is a popular one of the day, doesn't give you the right to be an a$$. So no, this isn't a surprise having seen him in action before.
Let's just say if this costs him his job, there'll be a decent sized celebration.
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