Six minutes late again! Third time during a toasty week this past July. I lean my aging Diamondback against an empty drying rack by the front door and walk in. Just like the previous two mornings, Lonnie pauses while schelping paperboard into the baler and says “Welcome to Groundhog Day.” My day begins with a little grin and a resolve to be six minutes early Thursday.
Of course, “Groundhog Day” refers to the 1993 film where Phil (played by Bill Murray) relives the same day, perhaps hundreds or thousands of times, as a television weatherman reporting on whether Punxsutawtney Phil sees his shadow. A shift at the Keep Alliance Beautiful recycling center may seem like another sometimes though not like the movie. Then, on a recent Friday afternoon, Mary said, “It’s Groundhog Day” with a laugh. I thought, “Wow, what would it be like on Monday if it were true?”
Good deal, left the house at quarter till. I look at my watch while dismounting my bike at the drying rack – 10:06! Whatever. “Welcome to Groundhog Day,” Lonnie says as I walk by. Hmmm, not as funny this time. G.O. and Virgil back a loaded pickup in. As we come over to help, G.O. says, “Do you want to get Dave’s while we’re all here?” “Sure,” I say automatically, then remember I was just there Friday. Oh well, it will be good to get out of the recycling center. I walk out of the shop into the sunlight, my mind mush, and never see the forklift.
Not a bump or scratch, the next second I’m riding down the alley again. My watch hands mark 10:05 . . .
My wife and I have watched “Groundhog Day” every Feb. 2 since we met except the year our son was born. No airing of the holiday namesake on the hospital cable. We are Bill Murray fans and it is a fun way to celebrate a quirky American holiday. Over the years, I think more about the main character’s transformation than the fact God (as I see it) kept him locked in Feb. 2 so long. Phil started out in the movie as a huge self-centered jerk. He saw the value, over time, in being kind and helping others. And in the end, of course, Phil found true love and woke up on Feb. 3.
There was plenty of variety in the scenes each day after Phil woke up to Sonny and Cher. And, of course, the same is true at the recycling center. My co-workers and I do see our “regulars” come to the shop, handle the same dozen materials (usually) and pick up at the same 70 locations. Yet, you never know who’s going to call or what type of load will back in. And, just when we finally “get caught up” something happens.
I like to think Keep Alliance Beautiful, at the recycling center and overall, is like Phil in the second half of the movie – always finding ways to improve itself while helping people. I have never heard “I Got You Babe” playing on the shop stereo, however, and will never mention it if I do.