July 29, 2003
Hawkinsville, Ga. -- The government reported recently the number of people seeking jobs was the most in quite some time. If people followed the example of one man in particular, we would be even better labor statistics.
We don’t have as many people who think and act like David Tucker as we used to.
“I like to get out and talk to people,” Tucker says while driving. He has an attitude, a strong one. “I didn’t want to just sit down and expect something to come to me.”
He hit hard financial times, even driven to pawn his antique furniture, selling it for almost nothing, to have enough money to feed his family. He was desperate.
Like some Americans out of work, David Tucker went out looking for a job in and around Hawkinsville. No one would hire him because of his cholesterol and diabetes problems.
He found out the hard way…. “Ain’t no job going to come to you.” He was down on his luck when his life hit a turning point. David Tucker realized a good job staring him in his face all the time. One where he could be his own boss, could work outside, and could have all the work he wanted. An unlimited supply of garbage.
“Garbage will be here when I’m dead and gone,” Tucker said as he put a plastic liner in one of his customer’s trash cans. People, especially in rural Pulaski County in central Georgia, needed someone to pick up their household garbage and were willing to pay.
But he had to convince them to let him do it. “I begged people to haul garbage. Yes, I did.” He scraped enough money to buy a small trailer and a used truck, becoming an entrepreneur with a quick smile of satisfaction.
“When they told me I had their garbage, I felt good.” David has 50 customers now, works four days a week and loves it, and he still has that strong attitude about working. “A job Ain’t hard to get if you’ll work.”
The garbage cans sometimes yield surprises. “There’s some good stuff you can get out of garbage, too. He’s found televisions, radios, telephones money, microwave ovens, flowerpots, bed comforters, items he affectionately calls merchandise.
His wife holds yard sales frequently to sell what he finds thrown away. All good garbage runs must come to an end, unloading his bounty at the landfill takes a few minutes after traveling so long.
Looking back, David Tucker made the perfect job for himself. “If I die hauling this garbage, it would be great with me,” Tucker said as he pulled away from the landfill.
The last of a dying breed that wasn't too proud to beg.
posted at 5:00PM by dave.miller@walb.com
David Tucker
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 Worldnow and WALB, a Raycom Media Station. 
