An unlikely friendship has formed between a garbage collector and a toddler. John Coleman, a three-year-old truck enthusiast, established a friendship with Craig Hodges, a GFL garbage collector, after falling in love with his bright green truck roughly ten months ago.
However, they have since developed a stronger connection. Their bond began when Kayla Coleman, John’s mother, noticed her son’s fascination with the trucks and urged him to bring a snack to the driver.
John, who lives in Roanoke, began joyfully waiting in his front yard to see Craig every Tuesday for his route since they first met. Craig also makes it a point to hug John, who always returns the gesture with an apple or snack.
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John’s mother, Kayla, also told 25NewsNow, “If the trash truck was coming earlier before he started school, [John] would come to wake me up and say, ‘Trash truck is here!’”
John gets his chance to hop inside, turn the wheel, and honk the horn. His mother went on to say, “He pretends to load the trash and Craig lets John push the buttons and he’ll educate him on everything.”
Craig told the outlet, “He does this every week. It’s my favorite part of the week.”
Recently when the three-year-old was ready to start school, his parents worried that schedule conflicts would hinder their boy and the garbage collector from meeting once a week.
John’s father, Chuck, remarked, “When it happened, one of my big thoughts on it was, ‘Who wants to explain this to a three-year-old? That’s a conversation I personally don’t want to have with my son.”
But instead of seeing John in the mornings as he usually did, Craig made the extra effort and changed his schedule to visit him every week in the afternoon after he got home from school.
“We were super appreciative that he could rearrange everything for us,” Kayla told People. “His snacks got a little bit better!”
John said, “I love the trash truck. Craig is my friend.”
