Awww, give poor Walt a break. His memory isn’t that good as a super centenarian. Perhaps he developed the desire after he was older, but he projected it back to his childhood.
Our city is busy automating the entire garbage collection process. The “collectors” are just truck drivers. No one “riding shotgun”. Same with yard waste. You have to used a city-designed container the truck can lift. They won’t touch our other containers anymore.
I wonder if the doll is related to Nott Me, from Family Circus.