I know that. (I’m still confused, though.) It isn’t portraying any danger to the ship in any way… it’s played as a comedic moment, in fact.
I’m sure there was some scratched paint to deal with - and the possibility that the garbage men DID in fact see something.
/nerdhat
So, you think that the paint, after surviving the rigors of atmospheric rentry, baked by cosmic radiation, blasted by Vulcan sandstorms, being in close proximity to photon torpedo (antimatter) explosions (as seen in ST III), is going to be damaged by low speed contact with the low grade steel of a trash can? :dubious:
Well - yeah - its not the first 10000000 straws that break the camel’s back, is it?