Over a million people around the world have watched a video of young Jonathan Haselbusch greeting his favorite trash collector, Antonio. The amount of joy exhibited by the 16-year-old will bring a smile to even the biggest grouch.
The young man from Canyon County, California has unidentified special needs and a love of trash collection technology. And hey, who doesn’t occasionally watch the mechanism on the side of trucks lift and empty those bins and set them back down neatly? It’s pretty cool!
The relationship between Jonathan and Antonio began about a year before the video, according to his mother. Jonathan loves drawing and would leave his artwork on top of the bins before pickup. That’s when his mom noticed that Antonio would collect the papers and store them in his cab before taking away the trash.
Touched by his actions, Christina stopped Antonio one day and told him about her son. She introduced the two and Antonio smiled and gave the boy a hug.
Antonio’s route doesn’t always take him past the family’s home and the timing doesn’t always work out either, so seeing him in the cab is a special occasion for Jonathan – and, of course, Antonio is always on the lookout for his biggest fan.
When she posted the video online, Christina explained that Jonathan hadn’t seen Antonio in months because the school bus had been picking him up before the garbage truck arrived. She continued:
I love it when people take time to get to know, understand and love on someone with special needs or different abilities….it opens their eyes, heart and mind to unconditional love and acceptance.
As the video shows, those special moments make Jonathan leap up and down and shudder with joy. Turning to his mother with glee, he points out that he’s about to have one of those special moments.
Christina told Inside Edition that even she gets excited in those moments:
“It’s exciting to see Jonathan get so excited. It just fills your heart with so much love and so much appreciation for the simple things in life.”
And she feels lucky to have found a kind and understanding professional in Antonio:
“He’s an outstanding man,” she said. “He goes above and beyond. He never had to stop and take pictures off the trash cans. I think that’s an example of somebody who has a genuine, loving heart.”
As the two hug in the video, you can see that their friendship is special.
Jonathan’s love of the profession means he even dresses up as a trash collector for Halloween!
And the local trash service appreciates the young man’s enthusiasm so much that they’ve even invited him to their facilities to see the trucks up close.
Once the video and Jonathan’s story went viral, Antonio left him a special gift and Waste Management also sent him a package of swag to thank him for his support.
His mother thanked everyone who had reached out to share their love of the video after it went viral:
Thank you to all our friends, family, & supporters for always being there to love/support us through this journey! We are truly overwhelmed with gratitude and humble hearts that you have loved seeing & sharing in the excitement and fun of this simple little video.
Indeed, there is a tremendous amount of beauty in this simple video. Be sure to watch it below.
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