| Excuse me, everyone. Did anyone notice that there are no women on the Gender Equality Commission? |
| — Leslie Knope |
"Women in Garbage" is the eleventh episode in the fifth season of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on January 24, 2013 to 3.94 million viewers.
Synopsis[]
April and Leslie try to get more women hired in government; Tom asks Ben and Andy to teach him about basketball; and Ron watches Diane's kids.
Storyline[]
Leslie comes to Chris with her latest endeavor: a commission on gender equality. She has decided the lack of women in their government is criminal and that it's time to do something about it. Chris agrees with Leslie wholeheartedly and says that he'll call a meeting that day to discuss a course of action. Later, when the meeting assembles, Leslie is horrified to find that not a single department has sent a female representative. They get down to business, and Leslie points out that the number one offender of gender inequality is the sanitation department. The department reps assert the garbage collecting job is too physically demanding for the average woman. Leslie takes this on as a welcome challenge.
Back at the Parks Department, Ron is in over his head babysitting Diane' two daughters Ivy and Zoe for the day while their usual sitter is away. He has no idea how to handle the little girls, who make an absolute mess of his office, and Jerry and Ann aren't much help either. At the end of the day, Ron puts on a smile when Diane asks him to babysit again tomorrow, but he's quickly overwhelmed. Barely in to day two, he has no choice but to recruit Ann's help despite her complete disconnect with children.
Tom recruits Andy and Ben to teach him everything they know about basketball so he can schmooze his young Rent-A-Swag clients since it's all the kids are talking about these days. They get on the court and start with the basics, but Tom is completely hopeless.
Leslie and April take the garbage pickup challenge, as they gear up and work a route for the day. April's fully committed to the task, ready to get her hands dirty and invade some personal privacy. They start off well as they make good time over the first half of the shift, but they get an unscheduled request to pick up a giant industrial refrigerator. The pair find straight away that they are no match for the fridge.
Ann finally connects with Diane's daughters when she whips out her medical kit and plays doctor with them in the conference room. But when she leaves them unattended for a moment, the girls lock themselves in and start chopping off chunks of their hair with Ann's medical scissors. Jerry is able to find the key for the room but the damage is done. Ann tries to look on the positive side in that Ivy and Zoe didn't hurt themselves, but Ron isn't happy, as he loves Diane and wants to show that he can watch after her kids without something bad happening. Ann, Jerry, Ivy, and Zoe all start laughing and tease Ron for saying he loves Diane.
After hours of failed attempts, April and Leslie are about to throw in the towel. That's when the fridge owner emerges and reveals that the garbage men came three days earlier to remove the fridge and they couldn't get it to budge. Realizing the sanitation department set them up for failure, Leslie devises an alternate solution - since the fridge works, maybe someone would be willing to take it off their hands. Together, with a group of women from the local soup kitchen, they are able to load the fridge onto a transport truck. The sanitation department claims defeat and agrees to hire more women in their department.
When Diane comes to pick up the girls, Ron's prepared for the worst, but when she sees what happened, she laughs it off, relieved that nothing worse happened. She's touched by how concerned Ron was and how invested he is in the well-being of her girls. In fact, she tells Ron that she loves him for the first time, which he reciprocates.
After a day of basketball training, Tom completely humiliates himself on the court in front of his preteen clientele and is disheartened. Ben consoles him by showing him a clip of professional players talking at a press conference about the times they failed but never gave up. The players' outfits inspire Tom, who decides it isn't the game that matters – it's what's after the game. Tom decides to position Rent-A-Swag as the go-to location for all of his clients' post-game outfit needs.
Cast[]
Quotes[]
[Ivy and Zoe have made Ron's office look girly and are painting Ron's shoes when Diane shows up]
Diane: [cheerfully] Hey!
Ivy, Zoe: Mommy! [they run to hug her]
Diane: [to Ron] You survived, huh?
Ron: Indeed, I did.
Diane: My sitter is still out of town. So I really hate to ask you this, but is there any way you could take them again tomorrow?
Ron: No, of course. I'd be delighted.
Diane: You're a lifesaver. Thank you. [to her daughters] Girls, you want to spend another day with Ron?
Ivy, Zoe: YEAH!!
[cut to Ron alone in his office downing a glass of whiskey; he then pours another glass]