钻个牛角尖, of sorts.

If you cared enough, especially if, in a period spanning serveral years, you really wanted to thank your refuse collector for his/her excellent service but never got a chance to do so due to whatever reason/excuse on your part, you could easily have remedied the situation by paying a visit to the city's Finance department, asking to speak to a Refuse Customer Service supervisor to give your thanks. Alternatively, you could have written to the same department to give credit where credit is due....

You obviously did not do either, leading one to conclude: 1) you really were not as noble a person as you made yourself out to be; or 2) you made up the story, period.