A message to someone I've never met.

[lateniteramen]

Earlier tonight, I was visiting Kari at her apartment, when I looked a ways down the street and saw a pile of stuff by the side of the road. The first thing that caught my eye were two standing lamps, which I assumed were perfectly serviceable. I went to get a closer look, and stumbled upon a friggin' goldmineThose of you who know me well are

Comments

[sssage]

Well I think a better solution for her would be not to think twice about getting rid of stuff but rather give it away to charity. As many know my family is fairly well to do. We made smart financial choices and I earn the things I want by getting a job. However I even find myself with too much stuff or things that no longer serve a need I once needed. We give away PILES of stuff to american vets and purple heart and ect. What would be nice is if she had called up one of those local services and given those lamps to decorate the homes of the less fortunate. Those charity services will COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND PICK IT UP FOR YOU!!! Now even I'm guilty of throwing out some souvenir cups from school or recycle piles of paper (20lbs this year) that was only printed on one side and could have made excellent scrap paper. But even I'm not guilty of throwing out lamps that work or need small repair. If you want to give it away for free to put a free sign on it and away from the trash, THAT'S awesome. my neighbors on the street do it all the time

[lateniteramen]

Last summer, I actually found so much stuff that I had no possible use for it all, so I actually ended up donating what I didn't need to consignment stores, which is nice, because said donations are tax-deductible. When I got my tax return a few months ago, I used it to buy a Nintendo DS. Not bad for a small return on stuff I picked out of the garbage!

All the stuff I've collected recently is also starting to pile up. (All being stored in a corner of the basement) I'm thinking about holding my own personal garage sale, then donating whatever doesn't sell.

[gardeniandragon]

I see a lot of that same sort of wastefulness here on the west side of Phoenix as well. Surprisingly, this part of town is where the regular people live, the ones that go to work, not to a job, and the ones that you wouldn't expect to see just throwing stuff away. A large number of the people here have recently immigrated from Mexico, and though it's true that many of them might often have to choose between feeding the children and having the car repaired, I still see a lot of cheap-looking furniture and stuff out by the Dumpster that looks to be in serviceable condition. I'd understand if I was wandering around around Scottsdale or somewhere in eastern Phoenix, but still, it doesn't do anything good for anyone if people just get rid of stuff that someone else could find a use for. In any case, it's one more reason why I dislike rich people so immensely. They may think otherwise, but the truth these days is that hard work doesn't pay off, especially if you do happen to be someone who's a new resident of the area or maybe even the

[lateniteramen]

One of the interesting things you learn by dumpster diving is that waste is really not entirely dependent on social class. I've often been shocked at what I've found in dumpsters behind office buildings and run-down residential complexes alike. I'm sure you've seen plenty of trashy neighborhoods rife with Fisher-Price scooters and washing machines on their front lawns. Same thing with their garbage. They'll throw away anything because they're too lazy to fix it. People throw away lamps just because a light bulb burns out, or a table that has a ding on the surface

[gardeniandragon]

Yeah I've noticed all that really here... Quite often I'll see people pushing the children down the street in a shopping cart stolen from Food City, then a couple days later I'll see a bunch of kids toys out on the front lawn and a similar shopping cart sitting out by the Dumpster. I'm also very familiar with indoor fixtures on front lawns and people's back porch and whatnot. I see around here a lot of people put couches on their front lawn somewhere, usually up near the house, and I'm assuming it's just because they don't really want the thing inside and they just like to sit around outdoors a lot.

As for people's behaviors though, I'm also interested in that, especially when I'm out traveling somewhere. I tend to wonder where everyone on the road around me is going, and for what purpose, just simply because sometimes I manage to wind up in places where I wouldn't expect to run into another person.

[lateniteramen]

Wow, so many comments... the most I've gotten to any one entry in quite a while. Thanks for all the feedback, guys!

As a quick update, Krista has not replied to my message. For someone who has nearly 600 Facebook profile pictures and over 1,000 posts on her Wall, she strikes me as the kind of person who probably logs on multiple times a day, so unless she's still busy with her move, I doubt I will hear a response. Sad, but I hope she at least read over the message without simply deleting it.