:: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 ::

Last night I had some kids asking me about diving this one dumpster. For one reason or another, digging through dumpsters has become quite popular and accepted among some hipper circles in Chicago. I'd like to think it has to do with the treasure-hunt excitement and reuse ethic, and nothing to do with the rising popularity of scavenger culture style. Hey, if kids want to dig for food in dumpsters, i'm all for it. Don't just do it to look cool though. Educate yourselves about the systems of economics and waste, and conduct yourselves in a way that makes things easier for other divers, i.e. don't leave messes or piss off security guards. Pardon My digression.
The issue at hand was that they were asking about this one particular sporting goods dumpster that has become a recent favorite of mine.

"Hey Ira," the one guy asked,"How do you get into the [name removed] dumpster?" My immediate reaction was dismay that someone else had found my secret source of camping supplies. I couldn't get mad at the kid because a) I think there's enough waste in chicago to go around, so scarcity isn't really an issue, b) The reason he found out about it was probably because of my bragging, and c) the dumpster in question wasn't a personal find, but introduced to me by a fellow dumpster diver. All the same, I have found so much nice stuff in there that it brings out the scrooge in me when I think about someone else tapping it.
"It's a secret," I told the kid. "It's not hard to figure out how to do it though." I told them that instead of telling them, I would send them on a quest to figure it out for themselves, and if they'd given it an honest try and still couldn't do it, then I'd help them. They seemed excite by this.
"It's like one of those RPGs" they told me.
"I have to do it this way," I told them, "because that dumpster is so good. I pull hundreds of dollars of stuff out of that dumpster each week." Damn, there I go bragging again. They'll complete their quest now for sure. I was exaggerating a little, but not that much.

In the past month i have found:
1 Internal frame backpack, used $100
1 External fram backpack, new $260
2 pairs Nike sunglasses, new $50 each
1 water filtration system, new $98
3 battery powered headlamps $30 each
2 pair Italian made ice climbing cleats, new $60 each
1 pair climbing shoes, damaged, $100
1 pair Teva sandles, new $100
5 pairs x-country ski boots $70 each
clothes, waterbottles, climbing gear, small bags, lots of random small stuff.

The bottom line for me though is that material possesions, whether bought or found, are still just stuff. Sure, I'll use some of these things, and I can probably sell some on ebay or trade them or whatever, but there's no real reason why i shouldn't share. Good luck on your quest, my young accolytes.
:: Ira 8:39 AM [+] :: [comment/respond]
...