It's usually a bad thing when homeowners have to review surveillance footage after finding out something unexpected took place on their property.

But this was not the case for Pensacola resident Doug Cashio on Nov. 1 when he learned a city of Pensacola sanitation worker did his family a big favor when he wasn't around.

After a hectic day Oct. 31 that included emergency appendectomy surgery for his 11-year-old son, Cashio noticed the next day that someone had emptied his recycling bin, even though he hadn't dragged out to the curb himself.

"He spent the night in Sacred Heart and my wife actually stayed with him and then I stayed home with my other two children, and I still tried to do some Halloween stuff with them," Cashio said. "So the next morning I'm rushing to get them all ready and then going to the hospital to relieve my wife and I mean, taking out the recycling was the last thing on my mind, basically."

After his son was discharged Nov. 1, Cashio noticed his recycling had been emptied.

"I asked my wife, I was like, 'Did you take the recycling out?'" he said. "She said, 'No, I didn't even think about it.' I thought, 'Wow, that's really weird.'"

Cashio consulted his home surveillance footage and saw that a sanitation worker with the city walked all the way up his driveway, grabbed the bin and emptied it.

He was so thrilled at the gesture — one he had never seen done in the nine years he's lived in his neighborhood — that he captured the clip and sent it to the city of Pensacola to bring it to their attention.

"I wanted it to be known that although this guy had no idea what my situation was, the small act of kindness meant the world to me," Cashio said.

More acts of kindness:

• Escambia County Sheriff's Office deputy pumps the brakes to rescue a turtle

•Gulf Breeze teacher buying school supplies brought to tears by stranger's generosity

•Mystery Good Samaritan pays $150 bill for young mom in a bind at Navarre Walmart

The city of Pensacola posted Cashio's story to its Facebook page Tuesday and identified the employee as Laderal Dyess.

"City of Pensacola would like to thank Mr. Cashio for bringing this to our attention," the post read. "We love hearing stories about our team and we are so proud Mr. Dyess is part of it."

Jake Newby can be reached at jnewby@pnj.com or 850-435-8538.