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A baby blue, rust covered pick-up truck, its flatbed full of other people's trash, slowly cruises down the alley. It rolls to a stop in front of a dumpster. What makes the dumpster the tired old truck parked in front of any more special than the 5 it just passed is unclear, but something about this particular container calls to the driver inside.
A scruffy looking man exits the vehicle. He moves towards the dumpster and props the lid open with a piece of trash he scavenged from inside the large, brown metal box labeled "No Yard Waste". With the lid secure, he begins his search. Pushing aside trash bags full of rotting table scraps, he finds something that catches his eye. It's a metal pipe. He throws it into his flatbed, which isn't full of "trash", but overflowing with metal objects of varying shapes and sizes. The man continues to sift through the dumpster but comes up empty and he decides it's time to move on. He looks over his shoulder, eyes the rusting bounty that weighs down his truck, and enters the vehicle. A minute or two later and he's gone.
Alley Scavengers. I'm sure most City dwellers have seen them. I often wonder why these people collect the things they do. The metal I can sort of understand, there's probably some monetary value to the metal, but how much could you really get for a load of trash? Other scavengers are interested in the more personal trash...small trinkets, household decorations pulled from trash bags, stained clothing. Some of the scavengers look a bit scarier than others. Some offer you a smile, most don't...some even scavenge in the rain with the only protection from a downpour being a plastic Target bag pulled over the head. I sometimes ask myself if these people are doing something illegal, or are they just harmless souls looking for comfort in someone else's discarded treasures.
The Alley Scavengers, perhaps there's no reason for me to feel sorry for them, but sometimes...I guess I just can't help it.
A scruffy looking man exits the vehicle. He moves towards the dumpster and props the lid open with a piece of trash he scavenged from inside the large, brown metal box labeled "No Yard Waste". With the lid secure, he begins his search. Pushing aside trash bags full of rotting table scraps, he finds something that catches his eye. It's a metal pipe. He throws it into his flatbed, which isn't full of "trash", but overflowing with metal objects of varying shapes and sizes. The man continues to sift through the dumpster but comes up empty and he decides it's time to move on. He looks over his shoulder, eyes the rusting bounty that weighs down his truck, and enters the vehicle. A minute or two later and he's gone.
Alley Scavengers. I'm sure most City dwellers have seen them. I often wonder why these people collect the things they do. The metal I can sort of understand, there's probably some monetary value to the metal, but how much could you really get for a load of trash? Other scavengers are interested in the more personal trash...small trinkets, household decorations pulled from trash bags, stained clothing. Some of the scavengers look a bit scarier than others. Some offer you a smile, most don't...some even scavenge in the rain with the only protection from a downpour being a plastic Target bag pulled over the head. I sometimes ask myself if these people are doing something illegal, or are they just harmless souls looking for comfort in someone else's discarded treasures.
The Alley Scavengers, perhaps there's no reason for me to feel sorry for them, but sometimes...I guess I just can't help it.
1 comments:
By
bev, at
3:49 PM
Glad to see you back!
My husband is a rehabber and works with a guy who salvages stuff from the alleys. This guy says that he can make $80 a day on scrap metal. That's pretty good pay.