BATON ROUGE - It's a friendship that will make you smile; a young boy and the garbage truck driver who does the rounds in his neighborhood have become buddies.

The boy's father, Karl Shuman, will tell you the bond goes beyond a honk and a wave.

"We know each other by name and each other's wives' names; we're even planning a get-together with our families," Shuman said.

The friendship began about six months ago, during a dark time in Shuman's life. On New Year's Day, his coworker, Reggie Hunter, was killed in the New Orleans terrorist attack. 

Days later, Joseph Albert showed up in their lives. Shuman's four-year-old son, Ben, loves trucks. He especially loves the garbage truck.

"He hears the truck and he's like, 'Mr. Joe! Mr. Joe! Mr. Joe!'" Shuman said.

Albert, who has been with Republic Services for five years, drives down their street in Westhaven on Monday and Thursday mornings. Shuman has been filming the interactions between Ben and Albert and posting them to his Facebook page. 

"It started with me and Ben getting ready for school and walking out and Joe would be coming down the road and he'd just kind of stop and wave and we'd wave and it evolved into him stopping and honking the horn and he was like, 'Hey, do you want to get in?'" Shuman said.

Now, Albert stops the truck and Ben climbs in and sits on his lap. The two catch up for a few minutes, and then, before Ben climbs back down, he pulls the rope to honk the horn.

"I like to honk the horn!" Ben said.

Because of the impact he's made on their lives, Shuman and his son affectionately refer to Albert as St. Joe. They've exchanged phone numbers and share messages, photos, and laughs together. Albert has even gifted Ben a toy garbage truck of his own. It's a visit that's rewarding for all of them.

"I just thank God for allowing us to interact with each other, and we're kind of like family now," Albert said.

Family that's sparked from a little boy's fascination with a big truck.

"With everything that's going on in the world and the country, my son will know that people are good; you can have faith in humanity and compassion for other individuals, there are good people in the world," Shuman said.

If you ask Ben what he wants to be when he grows up, he'll tell you one of two things: a police officer or a garbage truck driver just like his friend, Mr. Joe.