Dumpster dive

When I was a kid, this part of town was busy. Trucks coming and going, factories running 24/7. Dad worked here then, night-shift at a company that imported pet food from whatever part of the world was selling it cheap this month. He'd rip open bags of pet food and du, mp it in a big hopper and on to a conveyor belt. By the time it hit the end of the production line, it proudly proclaimed "locally packaged". Consumers didn't look past that...they only really noticed when it wasn't just the manufacturing, but also the packaging and all the jobs that went overseas. The pet food was cheap to import, the labour even cheaper. The consumers in other parts of town said they cared, but their spending habits indicated that they were happier saving 50 cents a bag on their dog food. 

It was a similar story for most of the factories around here. Half the factories closed in the financial crisis of 2007-08, only one or two came back. The lights were off across much of the indutrial estate, squatters had set up in many of the buildings because the corporations don't even care enough to pay for security guards around here any more. 

A couple of days ago another company moved out. The signs say they were some kind of electronics importer, I think they sold battery operated toys or mobile phone accessories, maybe sex toys. Doesn't really matter, their gone now, and they've left a bunch of dumpsters out the front that'll be picked up in a couple of days. 

Word spreads quick. A couple of night nomads from the parklands doen south had moved up last night. I heard they'd been looking for a new place to camp since the cops had raided their encampment down where the bridge crossrs the river. A couple of psych-cases among them, a couple of drunks too, but they keep to themselves, and they don't let junkies or crack-heads join 'em. That always make police show up twice as quick, and make the encounters twice as dangerous. 

Kenny reckons there's a couple of car sleepers heading over in the next day or two. Even though they sleep in old unregistered rust buckets, they're a bit more noticeable. Probably heading here to see if there's anything worth scavenging in the dumpsters. So they can, sell it for fuel or food. Either way, Kenny, Nines, and I figured it was probably a good time to get into those dumpsters early.

First dumpster. A few rats digging through the top layers, a pair of cats trying to keep the rats away and pawing through piles of papers that they sweep onto the asphalt. A broken filing cabinet, cardboard boxes filled with shredded paper, some old computers (seriously, people were still using CRT monitors?), broken tables and office furniture, a few broken sheets of wall plaster, some scraps in the bottom of fast food containers. Nothing worth much of anything, maybe a few dozen bottles and cans that could be recycled for a couple of bucks. The smell of the sugar and leftover food scraps must have lured the strays. I grabbed the bottles, the keys, and some of the shredded paper to make a fire later that night.

Second dumpster. A whole bunch of packages and boxes filled with broken merchandise, labelled with return addresses from all over the country, filled with stuff that might work, might not. Heaps of power cords, a couple of desk lights and a fan. Another broken filing cabinet, some chairs, a couple of kids toys, and a pile off keepsakes and mementos that look like they might have been cleared off someone's desk. A few kids drawings, and some kind of dream journal. Seemed cool I grabbed it along with some power cords and solar powered battery chargers that looked like they might still work. Could be worth a trade later.

Third Dumpster. A couple of maps and wall charts indicating various shopping malls across the city, and a few key locations across the country. Fancy framed pictures of random people with "Employee of the Month" written on them. Plastic indoor plants and dirt, a couple of laptops (maybe the cords could charge them, if not, maybe they might earn fifty bucks or more at one of the second-hand stores). Some lock boxes, broken bookshelves, a few old business management books, nd the kinds of thick heavy books that people must put on their shelves to look impotant (Nines heabbed a bunch of those, maybe to ook important, or maybe to sell at the bookshop she knows)...more piles of paperwork. Kenny grabbed half a dozen lock boxes, I'd try the keys with him later. 

Nothing too special in the dumpsters, but a few things that we might trade for some cash to get a decent meal or two, we've had worse hauls. Leaving the dumpsters, the rats and cats headed back. It was almost like they were looking for something... 

...Weird.