We have this thing called junk day in the town in which I reside. It is a day for you to clear out all of the "stuff" you have accumulated and put it at the roadside for the city to pickup and dispose of. It really is great for those large boxes from Christmas or those things you decided to hang onto "just because".
So why is this post about this "wonderful day"? Because it brings out the worst in the area- the TRASH PICKERS. These people come out in drones the second someone deposits something at the curb. Suddenly this peaceful, serene town is filled with loud rumbling motors and old pickups lining the streets. Each one of these is of course filled to the brim with "junk". People will stop on a dime to find the that "treasure" within the trash. Cars are backed up for miles as people fight about who gets what from different piles.
While quite amusing to watch, it does get sort of annoying after the first day of hearing people in your front yard. Our street happens to be one of the last ones for pickup- so we are so lucky to get a full two days of picking. It is something you just have to experience to understand. No matter how "junky" the things out front may look, people still think that you just might have a hidden treasure there. For instance, we just had old empty boxes and two old mattresses for pickup- nothing hidden, nothing fancy. People were sorting through all of our boxes- determined that something else must be hidden there. We just happened to catch one of the "pickers" hard at work yesterday. Although the pile she was searching through looked just like a pile of old boxes, she was able to pull out some old broken eletronic equipment that were "treasures" in her eyes. When a truck pulled up behind her and people got out- we thought we were going to witness a fight over the items, but instead they just wanted a refill of coffee from her van. They chatted for a few minutes about the hot spots and then followed each other to the next stop. These are serious shoppers- and I am sure they will be back again next year.
So why is this post about this "wonderful day"? Because it brings out the worst in the area- the TRASH PICKERS. These people come out in drones the second someone deposits something at the curb. Suddenly this peaceful, serene town is filled with loud rumbling motors and old pickups lining the streets. Each one of these is of course filled to the brim with "junk". People will stop on a dime to find the that "treasure" within the trash. Cars are backed up for miles as people fight about who gets what from different piles.
While quite amusing to watch, it does get sort of annoying after the first day of hearing people in your front yard. Our street happens to be one of the last ones for pickup- so we are so lucky to get a full two days of picking. It is something you just have to experience to understand. No matter how "junky" the things out front may look, people still think that you just might have a hidden treasure there. For instance, we just had old empty boxes and two old mattresses for pickup- nothing hidden, nothing fancy. People were sorting through all of our boxes- determined that something else must be hidden there. We just happened to catch one of the "pickers" hard at work yesterday. Although the pile she was searching through looked just like a pile of old boxes, she was able to pull out some old broken eletronic equipment that were "treasures" in her eyes. When a truck pulled up behind her and people got out- we thought we were going to witness a fight over the items, but instead they just wanted a refill of coffee from her van. They chatted for a few minutes about the hot spots and then followed each other to the next stop. These are serious shoppers- and I am sure they will be back again next year.
