Saturday, August 13, 2011

Our Dumpster Diving Adventure

The other day, Rebekah, Ali, and I decided to hang out (like always).  We received notice that an elderly hoarder living nearby had recently passed away and her family put all of her belongings into huge dumpsters in her driveway.  Apparently there was so much stuff in this poor woman's home that her family were calling people and begging them to take some of the stuff so they could have more room to fill the dumpsters.

Rebekah, Ali, and I decided that it was worth a peek.  By the time we got there, there was only one giant dumpster filled with interesting objects.  It's amazing how much stuff one person can collect.


We found all sorts of bizarre things, like a gray wig, GIANT underpants, a sparkly statue of a deer, and several bright-colored outfits.  I found some 80s-style moon boots.  One of the funniest things I found was a two-legged bull with a ring in its nose.  It looked so strange that I even took a picture with it.


Rebekah was the only one who actually found some worthwhile things.  She found a colorful belt, which you can see in the picture below.  That was perfect for her since she wears waist-belts all the time.  She also found a sequined purse and a crazyyy sparkly shirt.  It was so fun taking pictures and looking through all of the "treasures."

Dumpster diving brought back memories from our childhood.  Back in the day when Rebekah and I were neighbors, this wealthy family across the street would celebrate their children's birthdays and Christmas by buying them entire new sets of toys and throwing ALL of their other toys away.  They would also throw away entire seasonal wardrobes and furniture.  Seven-year-old Rebekah and I would peek into the dumpster with great awe at all of the magnificent things that would be inside.  It was like a little toy store, stuffed into big plastic bags.

Why this family didn't donate these perfectly good toys to Goodwill or somewhere, I'll never know.  Occasionally, my mom would pull out the bags of clothes and toys and donate them to homeless shelters.  It seemed like such a waste to let them be thrown away.

Some of our favorite memories are of finding a GIANT stuffed Tigger in the dumpster one day and of finding a set of "diamond" earrings, still in their package.  We thought we'd hit the jackpot.  I remember running home, telling my mom, "How much do you think these are worth?  Thousands and thousands of dollars?!"  Really, the earrings were probably worth only a few dollars.

Our dumpster diving adventures aren't the proudest moments of my childhood, but they made for interesting and funny memories.

Today we made some interesting and funny memories as well.
I hope I never forget these days.

2 comments:

  1. When I was younger there was a sewing group at our church. One day I discovered that they threw the scraps in the kitchen trashcan. So...after their meetings my sister and I would sneak into the trashcan and collect the scraps of cloth. (which were totally covered in coffee grounds) Then we washed them and made "dresses" for our Barbies using cloth and hair ties. :)
    Thanks for reminding me of that fun memory! This post made me smile! Love it.

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  2. Emily, this is completely unrelated to this post, but I'll forget to tell you about this later, so I'm going to go ahead and do it now.

    I just wanted to give you a little warning about the bedding you got for school. Make sure you use cold water to wash it the first few times because the little bit of pink tends to bleed. I'm actually a little frustrated with how difficult it is to keep that bedding clean.

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