No matter how many times you’ve dumpster dived, it’s always something new. You always find something you’ve never found before. And the smell of a dumpster doesn’t give you any hint. One behind a florist shop that just threw a bunch of day-old roses away may smell nice might have nothing of any interest or value and a dumpster that makes you start gagging ten feet away may turn out to be a goldmine. Quite literally. I once found a thick-band men’s wedding ring in a dumpster in an alley down in Chinatown that had been sitting in the sun fermenting wilted bok choy.
I basically hunt for aluminum cans but do occasionally find other things I can sell. Sometimes even things in their original packaging. Once a brand new laptop. Why would someone do that?
Years ago, I found a man’s body. Wiped the dumpster where my fingers had touched it and called it into 911 anonymously from a pay phone. Don’t know what I’d do if I found another body. Good luck finding a pay phone nowadays.
This was written for
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/weekend-freewrite-4-20-2019-single-prompt-option
The prompt used was “the smell of a dumpster”.
photo from Pixabay