Thursday, November 4, 2010

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Every time I take out my trash, there is a throng of kids waiting to rifle through it and sometimes, I find my trash in the hands of some adults. I guess American trash is fascinating because everything comes in packages. My food, lotions, beverages, medicines, crystal light packets, kleenex, all come in packages. Currently, a little boy is wearing the sticker part of an empty pacakge of wetwipes. What makes it so special? Their excitement over my trash makes me feel a little humiliated that I'm throwing this stuff away.

Also, have you ever wondered where your unwanted clothes go? I've seen t-shirts from Philadelphia, New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, Chicago, fraternity/sorority shirts, college logo shirts and everything else in between. It's kind of nice to see these familiar items and it's funny to see how they translate here. I've seen boys wearing shirts and jeans that were clearly made for girls. One of my brother's favorite item to wear is a black and white striped hoodie with the word "Angel" on the side and a swirly silver design and rhinestones. But, what's really funny is that he's no angel at all! Whoever gave that away has made my brother really happy.

A person's trash can tell so many things about a person as well. I wonder what they are picking up about me as they observe my plastic and metal casings? I hope that those aren't the only things that I'll leave behind to be remembered.

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