Why don't people in WI use trash cans?

This was a question that I studiously pondered when we moved here. No one uses trash cans. All trash is placed on the street in clear bags. That's it - no cans at all. Well, being civilized from the big city and all, I was having none of that. I went to Walmart and bought a huge trash can. Trash is collected once a week. So, we keep the can in the garage, fill it up (no messy bags littering my garage floor), and dutifully wheel it out to the curb on pick-up day.

The first week we did this, I could tell the trash persons were not happy about it. I came home to find the can thrown haphazardly on the driveway, and the lid was gone. I guess they were too lazy to remove the lid, dump the trash, then replace the lid. My guess was that they just tossed the lid in with the load. No biggie, the can is the important part anyways, right? (I did later that week find the lid about 1/2 a mile from our house on the side of the road, flat as a pancake. I was too embarrassed to admit it was mine, so I just left it there!)

So this goes on for a couple of weeks - can is always thrown somewhere on our property. Now, as the snow begins to pick up, it is not always a fun job to retrieve the can, but still, I am not giving in to them!

I have also realized that the wind in our neck of the woods is close to hurricane proportions, which means that sometimes the can is blown halfway down the block by the time I get home to put it away. I am sure the neighbors are not happy, but none have yet to return it to our drive (and since we are the only ones with a can, they have to know it is ours!) But this week we hit a new "high".

The morning of trash day we set out the can along with several boxes from the Christmas holidays. When we got home, the can was nowhere in sight. I figured that the trash persons had finally had it and had just chucked the can along with the boxes. So they win, I guess. But not quite.

Two days later, I spotted our trash can several houses down in an empty lot, half full of trash, half full of snow. This time, I stopped the car, dumped the contents on the lot, and took the can home. I will not give in!! Civilized cultures use trash cans! Note, however, that in my diligence to stay clean and civilized I have now littered twice!

I have, however uncovered the mystery of why no one in WI uses trash cans -
1. The trash persons have no respect for the receptacle
and
2. Between the wind and the snow, it will not stay in place anyways!!

Just between you and I, if I "lose" it again, I will not search for it and I will not claim it from the neighbors. I will leave my trash can where it lays. I will simply do as the romans and drag my trash to the curb sans can!!!