GARBAGE PICKING

When I was clearing my tray at lunch today in a Downtown Chicago cafeteria, I saw something that tugged at my heartstrings. Although I was throwing the remains of my meal into a bin, a very elderly woman who had a cane resting nearby, was pulling food items out of another. For a moment, I thought maybe she was rescuing something she'd thrown in by mistake, but then it dawned in me. The poor lady was scrounging for food from garbage left over from other diners.

On the floor not far away was a plastic bag filled with other bags and items inside, which led me to believe she was probably homeless. I'm not sure how she found the cafeteria, since it's below ground in a bank. Maybe another unfortunate person tipped her off. Anyway, I felt sorry for her plight.

It's not unusual to see down-on-luck people rummaging in garbage cans along the street, but this was the first time I'd seen someone in an actual cafeteria doing it. It did make me stop and think. Where was her family? Did she have one any more? What a shame she had no one to take care of her.

On the commuter train coming home, I saw another lady. This one was not hard-on-her luck at all. She was dressed very nicely. She sat in the seat in front of me, but suddenly dashed up to the small garbage container in front of the car. She triumphantly picked up a newspaper page and brought it back to her seat. I caught a glimpse of the page and it was loaded with coupons, and said something about saving $150.00. She had a huge grin on her face as she stashed the paper away in her tote bag.

I've seen other people grab newspapers out of the containers on the train when the train stopped Downtown at Ogilvie Transportation Centre, the end of the line. It's not an unusual sight and I don't think anyone believes these people are homeless for doing it. It's just a thing to do on the train.

Also, in our neighborhood, homeowners often put unwanted items, such as old sofas or dressers out to the curb a day or so ahead of time. That's to give anyone who's interested a chance to grab them before the garbage men arrive. Before the truck comes around, many times the items have already disappeared.

People aren't the only garbage pickers. Squirrels, birds and other wildlife have the pesky habit of going into garbage bags when they're out on the patio or at the curb.

Garbage picking is fascinating. It's kind of the old-fashioned beginning of the going green fad, which seems to be catching on lately. Although I included street people in my mystery, Two Wrongs, I didn't think of making them garbage pickers. It's an idea for a future novel.

I confess. I did grab some extra Daily Heralds from the train where I had articles featured. They were on the top of the pile, with no food or drink spilled on them, so they were clean. That was a while ago, before I decided to concentrate on fiction.

What about you? Have you ever garbage picked? If so, what? Or, have you seen someone garbage pick? What?