For Shepherd Bowden, garbage day comes with two favourite people.
Sarah Bowden says her son Shepherd loves greeting Mr. Q and Mr. Zakee, who work for Republic Services, when they service the family’s home. She said they always take time to speak with him, give him a high five or share a laugh.
Recently, Shepherd was at school when the crew came by. Sarah said Mr. Q and Mr. Zakee left him a surprise, his own Republic Services toy truck.
She shared a video of the moment on Instagram, showing Shepherd’s reaction when she gave him the gift.
“This week Mr. Q and Mr Zakee came back with the sweetest surprise for Shep. Watching my son learn kindness, friendship, and community from people in our everyday life has been really special,” Sarah wrote.
“Thank you @mr.q_thegarbageman and Zakee for being such genuine, kind humans. Y’all are making core memories whether you realize it or not.”
People responding to the post said they were touched by the bond between Shepherd and the two sanitation workers.
“They say to never meet your heroes but Mr Q is the hero we all need!! Shep GLOWS because of Mr. Q!!!” one fan wrote on Instagram.
Another commenter wrote about what Shepherd may be learning from the friendship.
“I think this is like extra beautiful because not only do they have an awesome relationship, but your son also is learning the value of everyone’s work like you don’t have to be the owner of a big company or a millionaire to be important,” they wrote.
“You can be as simple as the person who takes the trash and that is valuable and I know your son is gonna grow up to be the most compassionate person and it just makes my heart swell with all the shit that’s been going on in the world. This makes me feel whole.”
Read more from Inspiremore.
