February 11th, 2023.
(I barely proofread this, I'm supposed to be doing school assignments rn.)
~
To give some context, I work at a senior low-income apartment complex as a housekeeper/caregiver for one of the residents (and essentially my boss) who has lupus. Another resident at the place, unfortunately, passed away in the hospital outside of town, and her husband (who has gradually severing dementia, which was saddening for me to witness) got moved to an assisted living facility after the incident. When I arrived at work, I saw a moving truck (for the lady's husband) out at the front of the building but didn't think anything of it until I met up with my boss (we'll just call her Carol).
While I was scrubbing down Carol's oven, she mentioned that she saw the moving guys throw loads of stuff into the big garbage bin (not the recycling one) a bit away from the front of the building. I thought that it was normal since it was probably trash and shoddy knick-knacks that no one would want. Well, it turns out beforehand, when the lady's husband was still at the apartments, he and Carol were rummaging through the room and putting certain stuff in the storage under lock and key. Carol knew exactly what was in the room previously and what other goodies could be found in the garbage bins, so she insisted that I go through the bins and take what we want. I mentioned to her that if I wanted to go through junk, I'd just go through a local garage sale. But I still went through with it anyway.
Now, just to make it clear, it is legal in my state to dumpster dive, so long as you don't steal and/or trespass. Since the moving/"cleaning-up" guys put all the junk in the bin, it was essentially "free game" as Carol put it, to get what we so choose before the trash trucks come through on Wednesday.
So, while the moving guys were still uh... "moving" stuff in their truck, Carol and I went out in broad daylight and rummaged through the garbage. I did most of the "diving" since Carol couldn't lift any of the heavy stuff out of the bin. There were small handle-like things sticking out the sides of the bin that I could squeeze and lift one foot in to haul myself up and over to reach stuff in. Mind you my ass is sticking out, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the sidestreet can see me lift trash bags filled with random shit from this rusting, green bin. I made eye contact with one of the moving guys near the truck a few yards away and he said and did absolutely nothing while I pulled up a gallon trash bag filled with scratched CD-Rs. Carol took some stuff, like plant-tying and nylon ropes, wall tacks, little things like that.
I didn't think it was right for any of the stuff I found to be thrown away completely. Many of the things I found and kept will get used one way or another by me.
Anyway, here's a haul of the stuff I kept (and sanitized excessively):
The lady might haunt my ass and Carol's later on, but I think I'm okay with that. One man's trash is another man's treasure, mind you... or maybe you're just a hoarder. That's fine too, I guess.
(I barely proofread this, I'm supposed to be doing school assignments rn.)
~
To give some context, I work at a senior low-income apartment complex as a housekeeper/caregiver for one of the residents (and essentially my boss) who has lupus. Another resident at the place, unfortunately, passed away in the hospital outside of town, and her husband (who has gradually severing dementia, which was saddening for me to witness) got moved to an assisted living facility after the incident. When I arrived at work, I saw a moving truck (for the lady's husband) out at the front of the building but didn't think anything of it until I met up with my boss (we'll just call her Carol).
While I was scrubbing down Carol's oven, she mentioned that she saw the moving guys throw loads of stuff into the big garbage bin (not the recycling one) a bit away from the front of the building. I thought that it was normal since it was probably trash and shoddy knick-knacks that no one would want. Well, it turns out beforehand, when the lady's husband was still at the apartments, he and Carol were rummaging through the room and putting certain stuff in the storage under lock and key. Carol knew exactly what was in the room previously and what other goodies could be found in the garbage bins, so she insisted that I go through the bins and take what we want. I mentioned to her that if I wanted to go through junk, I'd just go through a local garage sale. But I still went through with it anyway.
Now, just to make it clear, it is legal in my state to dumpster dive, so long as you don't steal and/or trespass. Since the moving/"cleaning-up" guys put all the junk in the bin, it was essentially "free game" as Carol put it, to get what we so choose before the trash trucks come through on Wednesday.
So, while the moving guys were still uh... "moving" stuff in their truck, Carol and I went out in broad daylight and rummaged through the garbage. I did most of the "diving" since Carol couldn't lift any of the heavy stuff out of the bin. There were small handle-like things sticking out the sides of the bin that I could squeeze and lift one foot in to haul myself up and over to reach stuff in. Mind you my ass is sticking out, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the sidestreet can see me lift trash bags filled with random shit from this rusting, green bin. I made eye contact with one of the moving guys near the truck a few yards away and he said and did absolutely nothing while I pulled up a gallon trash bag filled with scratched CD-Rs. Carol took some stuff, like plant-tying and nylon ropes, wall tacks, little things like that.
I didn't think it was right for any of the stuff I found to be thrown away completely. Many of the things I found and kept will get used one way or another by me.
Anyway, here's a haul of the stuff I kept (and sanitized excessively):
- 2 UPS' - yeah, these heavy little shits busted my back after yanking these out from the bottom of the bin. They had a battery (with some juice) in each, which is a big no-no in our state. One works to the fullest extent while the other might have a dead battery.
- A duffle bag - who in the right mind would throw this away? ...Okay, sure, some old person had it, but it's not like it has any holes or anything. It's still in good condition.
- Rolling luggage bag - same with the duffle bag, it's in near-mint condition and they threw it in the garbage.
- Near-mint winter boots - although the snow is melting over here, you can't go wrong with these.
- A small one-strap bag.
- A nice blanket (this was still in the apartment, the moving guys still left a lot of items there for anyone to take).
- Loads of non-expired Mac and Cheese (also not in the trash, but in the apartment room. There were lots of canned goods and other foods left for the rest of the residents to look through).
- Office supplies (tacks, paper clips, pen holder) - can't go wrong with these.
- A drawstring bag for a pillow(?) - not sure exactly, but it came with the duffle bag.
The lady might haunt my ass and Carol's later on, but I think I'm okay with that. One man's trash is another man's treasure, mind you... or maybe you're just a hoarder. That's fine too, I guess.
