- Carl and his neighbour Nick are great mates who enjoy having a laugh together
- During COVID lockdown, when Nick asked Carl to take his bin out, Carl saw an opportunity
- Ever the joker, Carl took Nick’s bin on a day out, including going to the Maccas, hanging out with other bin friends, and going to the beach
- The world loved the photoset, and it went viral
- Here, Carl, 56, from Mackay, Qld. shares his photography story….
I woke in the morning to a message from my neighbour Nick during COVID lockdown.
Can you take my bin out? he’d asked.
Always the joker, I typed a response back that made me chuckle.
Sure no problem — any particular place … Movitos, Bavarian, Rabbit Hole?
They were all pubs in our hometown of Mackay, QLD.
Then, suddenly, I had an idea.
That’s precisely what I’m going to do, I thought.
I’m a photographer, so I grabbed my camera equipment and decided to give Nick a chuckle by taking his bin out around Mackay and sending him the pictures.
It was 2021 and during COVID lockdown, so I knew my Facebook friends would also appreciate the laugh if I uploaded the photos there.
Read more: I came home to find a random POLE in my driveway
Walking into Nick’s Garden, I grabbed the bin with the number ‘6’ painted on the front.
“Today is your lucky day,” I said. “I’m taking you out on the town.”
I cleaned it before putting it into the back of my SUV.
“You scrub up well,” I said, securing it.
First, we drove to the local duck pond, then to the hardware store and then to the grocery store for some shopping.
After that, it was time for some self-care.
We went for a massage and then to the tattoo parlour.
“I think she wants some extra 6’s tattooed on her body,” I joked to the tattooist.
He couldn’t stop laughing.
Walking around with a camera and a bin I pulled a lot of attention.
There were a lot of whispers and confused looks.
“I think he’s a bit mental,” I heard someone say, making me chuckle.
When we were down on the beach, the lifeguard approached me.
“Mate, what are you doing?” he asked.
When I explained, he relaxed and saw the funny side.
“Thank god for that,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was dealing with. I thought you were going to throw your trash in the sea.”
Later on, I came across some council workers.
They eyed me up suspiciously as I dragged the bin behind me.
“Is that your bin?” one of them asked.
“Oh no, it’s my neighbour’s,” I told them. “I’m taking it out for the day.”
I pulled out my phone and showed them the text exchange between Nick and me before they took me away in a straight jacket.
The bin and I finished our day out in the pub for a coldie and then got a drive through McDonald’s on the way home.
Once we were back, I sent Nick the pictures with various bin-punned captions.
Wheelie nice views, I wrote under one.
Bin down the beach, I wrote under another.
I then uploaded the pictures onto my Facebook for others to enjoy.
The response I got was mental.
This is hilarious, one friend said.
I needed this, said another.
Within a day, the pictures had gone viral.
I was contacted by news outlets all around the world, and it was even picked up and featured on The Drew Barrymore Show.
This is crazy, I thought.
Nick was scared to take his bin out in case someone nicked it.
“I’m going to have to hire the bin a bodyguard,” he joked.
I’m just glad I managed to put a smile on people’s faces in such a difficult time in COVID lockdown.
Laughter really is the best medicine.
