The Garbage Man Script

The Garbage Man

Ext. Morning – Suburban Dead End Street. Black and White World.

Trashcan located on the curb. Perspective of its handle looking down the street. A figure steps in from behind the can and grabs its handle, which breaks off in his hand, and trash spills onto the road.

He tosses the broken handle into the garbage, as it is now trash. As he’s bent over, cleaning up garbage he discovers an old wedding ring amongst the trash. Without hesitation he decides to keep the ring. He pulls out a necklace that he wears beneath his coverall and it’s adorned with various trinkets collected over the years.

Removing the necklace he adds the wedding ring to the collection that includes an antique fork, thimble, pocket watch, dice, and buttons.

Happy with his discovery, he returns to picking up the trash when several couples walk by from different directions, arm-in-arm and in love. The Garbage Man stares longingly at their love – failing to notice the shard of glass he presently clasps in his hand.

He cuts his hand and his blood bleeds red through the over-utilized, torn gloves.

Emotionally overwhelmed and in physical pain, The Garbage Man retrieves his hand from the ruined gloves, unaware that a young girl toting a peculiar one-armed doll has snuck up on him and is tugging on his trouser leg. Blood drips from his hand as he pulls a handkerchief from a soiled pocket and wraps the wound.

The Garbage Man looks down to find a cute young girl literally grabbing at his attention, meanwhile a young boy is waiting patiently in the background with a gift-wrapped box. The two children are wearing similar outfits reminiscent of Sunday school dress circa 1960s.

The boy holds up a gift and the garbage man is surprised to realize that it’s a present for him. In his excitement, the garbage man tears open the package, flinging wrapping paper and ribbon wildly in the air.

He opens the box to reveal a brand new pair of garbage man gloves – glowing, in full color.

He drops the box onto the ground, tosses his old gloves on the lawn and adorns his new ones. His eyes locked admiring the new gloves; the young girl once again tugs on his trouser leg. The Garbage Man snaps out of his daze and finds the two children clearly upset at him.

The children, in unison, point angrily at the pile of wrapping paper, gift box and old gloves that the Garbage Man haphazardly left on their lawn. Upset at the disregard for his given duties as garbage man – the boy demands the gloves back.

The Garbage Man is shocked to see the color in the gloves return to black and white before his eyes. He peels the gloves off and grimaces as if it’s physically painful to remove them.

He hands the gloves over to the boy who is motioning the garbage man to throw away the trash he left on their lawn.

Accepting his fate, he picks up the trash and walks over to the nearest garbage can. Before he can throw away the trash, however, the boy blocks his path to the can and points to another can in the distance. Without putting up a fight the Garbage Man follows the boy’s demand and moves along to the far trashcan.

As he reaches to open the lid of the garbage can he’s surprised to find the lid lifting on its own. A plain-looking woman emerges from the trashcan wearing a garbage man jumpsuit. She is glowing in full color and holds out her hand.

He is startled and reluctant to take her hand – he steps back with hesitation. She ignores his trepidation, grabs the trash in his hands and happily disposes of it in the trashcan she stands inside.

Excited by her willingness to accept his trash, the Garbage Man is just about to help her out of the can when he decides to stop. She looks confused at his continued reluctance. The Garbage Man, however, takes off his trinket necklace and removes the wedding ring he found earlier.

He offers the ring to the Lady who kindly accepts. She wears his ring proudly. He offers his hand to help out of the trash when he realizes it’s filthy with a blood-soaked handkerchief.

Suddenly, the boy tosses the gloves back to the garbage man who catches them and puts them on. Ready to accept her love – he helps her out of the trash. As they lock hands and her toes touch the ground – the black and white world around the Garbage Man fills with color.

The children clap and cheer. The Garbage Man smiles gratefully at the children and kneels down in front of them. He holds out his necklace to them and offers them each a trinket.

The girl chooses the fork, which she immediately jams into the missing arm socket of her peculiar doll and gives it a makeshift arm. The boy chooses a button, which he sticks in his right eye like a monocle and gives everyone a good laugh.

All is well. The Garbage Man and his new lady get into the garbage truck and drive off into the sunset. But not before stopping at the next house to pick up the garbage.