So, I'm watching some old guy raid my recycle bin

[matcom]

fucking creepy. Dude is sifting through my soda cans so he can get a couple of bucks. Happens every week. I shouldn't care but for some reason I do. It pisses me off.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Is this a homeless guy, or just some guy?

Or is it some old pensioner on a fixed income?

Both piss me off, but not in a personal way, more at our society...

[matcom]

2. not homeless

pulled up in a Toyota. probably fixed income.

drives from house to house on recycle days sifting through all the bins. he MIGHT need the $ but it still creeps me out.

[GOPisEvil]

3. That is creepy...and sad...

I wonder if it's just a winter thing to pay for heating or something...either way, it's just sad.

Aw, crap...gotta get ready for work...time to make the donuts...

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. People come buy here on Tuesday mornings all the time...sifting.

And it's been more and more often and nicer and nicer cars. I put a couple of really crap bar stools from our breakfast bar...(think really dirty upholstery) and they were gone in five seconds. Same with the kitchen ceiling fan that was 80's ugly. It breaks my heart to know these people are probably trying to fix them up and sell them. Our neighbors two doors down just went into foreclosure redemption and I saw him out there a couple of weeks ago. :(

[ghostsofgiants]

5. You should be sure to empty it...

Whenever you delete the sketchier portions of your porn collection.

[AirmensMom]

6. That doesn't creep me out at all.

They come to my sister's dumpster so often that she waves at them now. They have to be pretty desperate to be looking through someone else's cast-offs.

If someone can use something I'm throwing out, that's great. Sometimes we put out stuff that's pretty good, like an old bicycle, and HOPE someone will take it and give it some new life.

[madinmaryland]

7. When I lived in CT, there were a group of them

that would go up and down the street. There were the guys looking for cans. A couple just had a grocery cart, the others drove 5-10 year old station wagons. All were men. The guys in the cars were also the same ones you would see at tag sales or garage sales first thing in the morning looking for some obscure type of junk.
There were a shit load of tag sales in the Spring and early Summer in CT.

[LaurenG]

8. That makes me feel sad for him. Geez is it my granddad?

Maybe you should just separate the cans and give them to him and ask him not to go through your stuff because it fucking creeps you out. Or not. ;(

[RumpusCat]

9. My roommate and I call him the Trash Digger

I wouldn't mind, really, because the trash cans are at the street and that means he doesn't have to come near my house, but he leaves such a damn mess! It looks like an army of meth-addicted racoons went digging thru my cans! Like seriously, Trash Digger, take anything you want, but can you shove it back in the can when you're finished?? Were you raised by... well, I guess it could've been wolves, you are the Trash Digger after all...

Is it elitist of me to want the Trash Digger to put the trash back in the cans when he's done?

[DS1]

10. He's probably spending more letting his car idle with the heat

on than he is earning money to pay for the gas to drive him around and get more.

[kick-ass-bob]

11. That's because you dumbass yankees pay out for recycled cans!

:eyes:

:hide:











:bounce:
:poopcorn:

[Crazy Dave]

12. I don't mind it.

I see it all the time. If somebody needs it and I don't, they can have it. But even with a Toyota, the poor old fella is probably burning up just as much gas money as he is collecting in cans.

[WolverineDG]

13. Back in my apartment days

several residents & I noticed the same 2 guys diving through the dumpster looking for cans. Shortly thereafter, we all started bagging our cans separately & leaving them beside the dumpster so they wouldn't have to dig. What I found amazing about this is that we didn't discuss doing it, we just all did it at the same time.

dg

[Gormy Cuss]

14. When I lived in MA, it was part of trash night ritual

This was in urban Somerville. We weren't allowed to put trash out before 8 PM the night prior to pickup. The trash pickers were roaming the streets by 8:15. Nothing with a cash value was ever left in the recycling bins. I remember a time when newsprint was pricey. There were guys in decent looking cars who raided the recycle bins and sold the newspapers. The municipalities were annoyed because the low volume of newsprint meant that THEY weren't seeing the revenue in city coffers and some of these trash pickers left the remaining recycling bin contents strewn on the sidewalk. It was a mess.

On the other hand, sometimes I'd see a scruffy looking person fishing for cans and bottles to redeem, or people picking up odd chairs and small tables to bring home. Those trash pickers were just efficient recyclers in my mind.

[StuckinBFE]

15. I would be worried about identity theft you never know

what someone could find useful for stealing your information in the trash. The guy is probably harmless but that just my first thought.