Dumpster Diving

We were eating a late lunch as we sat in my cube van and soaked up the sun’s rays. I noticed that the dumpster sitting next to us was finally empty. The last week or so it has been bursting at the seams: full of busted sheetrock, scraps of lumber and plywood, pieces of tin and insulation and wire and shingles and siding and everything else you can imagine. Nothing looked too attractive, so I wasn’t tempted to rummage through it these past few days. But I did notice something different on today’s “new” dumpster. The sticker--it had a different message. Usually it warns people not to dispose of tires or cardboard or hazardous wastes and the like. But the message I stared at today, a little in disbelief (and probably as a result of the company’s legal staff), seemed odd. The first part was understandable. It said something about not digging through the dumpster. But the second part warned against residing in the dumpster. I think they used the word “occupy.”

My first thought was, ok, if someone is desperate enough to seek refuge in a dumpster are they really going to be talked out of such an activity by a warning label. I know if I see a good 2 x 4 or nice oak board in a dumpster, a warning label doesn’t keep me from leaning over the edge and grabbing it.

After giving it a few more thoughts, I mentioned the warning label to my son and cousin as they munched away on their lunch. This reminded my cousin of a high school friend of his whom he ran into at Teen Challenge this past year. He hadn’t seen him in decades and didn’t recognize him (probably due to too much hard living), but while talking they realized who each other was and went on to some great catching up. My cousin’s high school friend ended up at Teen Challenge by way of a dumpster.

Dumpsters became favorite night time sanctuaries for this guy. They would keep him warm and safe from predators. And he was usually too intoxicated to care about the down-side of such a living arrangement. But one morning he had a rude awakening (literally). He felt his dwelling shake and move and noticed he was sliding and wasn’t able to stop. A truck had come to retrieve the dumpster in which he lay. He was about to be tossed into the abyss of the garbage truck, but awoke in time to holler out “stop.” His quick thinking that morning can be partially attributed to the fact that this was one of the few mornings that he was actually sober. But that experience became his last straw, the event that made him turn himself in to Teen Challenge. He was finally ready to change. He has now graduated from the program, and we pray his life is on track for the long run. My cousin has not seen him since his graduation, but hopes to look him up soon.

So the fact that lawyers are busy covering the tails of their clients (by way of warning labels) brought forth an interesting lunchtime tale.