Was amused to find an article on salon today about dumpster diving. It was just a matter of time, I guess, before the media latched on to that. I’ve always known people who’ve gone dumpster diving, and had done it myself. When I was a kid my Dad always brought home beat-up radios and other found objects he could tinker with. In high school I had friends who worked at a Mrs. Field’s cookie store at the mall. A bunch of us would swing by around close and intercept the leftover goods before they could be thrown out. I worked at the movie theater myself and would bring garbage bags full of popcorn to parties around town. One spring I was in NYC and scored some great clothes and records (a skater couple had gotten evicted from an office space in Brooklyn that they’d been using as a living space - they gave us their blessing to dig through their castoffs). I’ve also had friends involved with Sisters Camelot and Food Not Bombs. But I didn’t take dumpster diving seriously, for myself, until two summers ago. When I was pregnant I had a stable job, doing tech support/admin stuff at an insurance company. As my maternity leave was ending I started looking around a bit. I thought going back to that job would be difficult, as it was tedious…but also because I’d be required to be on call periodically. 24 hours a day a week or two at a time. With a nursing infant. That would have been hellish. So instead I was lured away by a small startup…offered a position as manager of web development, which I greatly prefer, and at higher pay. But it was absolutely dreadful (for a whole host of reasons, a story for another time). I was actually relieved, to a degree, when I was laid off just a few months later. It allowed me to spend a good portion of that summer with my son, who was just learning to stand, then cruise (the precursor to walking). Unfortunately we were absolutely broke. Unemployment barely covered our COBRA health insurance payment, plus diapers. Child support didn’t go far enough to cover the rest. I scrambled. Submitted my resume and interviewed around. Even looked for a roommate to help cover the bills. I started working again fairly quickly. A couple of contract gigs through a decent agency. The last one eventually turned into the permanent position I still have (as permanent as things can be these days). But it was too late to stop the downward spiral. I’d tried juggling the bills as best I could. It was nearly a relief when the phone line was disconnected, as it stopped the incessant ringing from bill collectors. But I worried I was missing calls from potential employers…and what if something happened to the baby and I needed to call 911…and the home security system was useless without a phone line, etc. So I quickly scraped together the money to have that reconnected in short order. But my car was still repossessed (with no warning I might add). And to get it back (so that I could continue working to pay my other bills) I had to use the money that I was going to put towards my late mortgage payments. Nearly lost my house at that point. A very good friend (thankyou thankyou thankyou) loaned me the money just days before the deadline to stop the sheriff’s sale (which would have taken place to auction my house off). So things sucked. But we weren’t starving. We certainly could have gotten by without dumpster diving, sure, especially as the little man wasn’t really eating solids yet, but it provided mama with some pretty good extras. A couple of times the co-ops’ electricity went out, just briefly, but they were still required to pitch everything that had been refrigerated. Friendly co-op workers would set these goods aside, and clearly mark which items were vegan and when they’d been put out. So a few times I scored some chocolate and chai silk, tofutti cream cheese and other goodies. On a more regular basis I picked up perfectly good bread for free, instead of shelling out the $3+ per loaf for my favorite bread from Natural Ovens (I really need to get a breadmaker). And thankfully there’s Seward Cafe. Seward has always been a fave of mine, but especially so after I became a mom. And then a broke mom. First of all, no one batted an eye when I would hike up my shirt to let the little man nurse. The other wonderful thing about Seward is that, at closing time every day, they give away all the leftover food rather than throwing it out. And they let folks hang out there and eat it off their plates too. So a couple of afternoons a week I’d bring the little man down with me to stand in line with a bunch of crusty kids, some I knew, and chit-chat while waiting for free food. Often it was just brown rice and toast, but sometimes beans, veggies, pancakes, and/or fruit. But it was always appreciated, both the food and the company. Things are far more stable these days…back into the 40 hour workweek/ratrace. My bills are paid mostly on time, with the car loan and (no longer used)credit card debts being steadily paid off. Expected and unexpected expenses still pop up now and then, nearly causing me to panic. And there was that scare last Fall…after the company-wide layoffs my salary was temporarily reduced by 40%. But still, I’m in a much better place now, financially (and otherwise). I no longer have time to dumpster dive for myself, but I do put usable items out on my boulevard with big “FREE” signs.
“What’s “Vooz”? Well, it’s the Korean equivalent to Japan’s Sanrio. (Hello Kitty) Which means, in a nutshell, cuteness ahoy. My favorite characters have to be Pucca, a tomboy and her boyfriend, Garu. I love the way Pucca’s hairbuns move. ”