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:: 9.29.2004 ::
Dumpster Dilemma
Okay, so I’m only on page 53... but I have worked a lot this week, and it’s not a fast book, by any stretch of the imagination. However, I swear on everything I hold dear and holy, I will finish this book on this reading. Not in this sitting, not in this week, maybe not in this month, if necessary, maybe not in this year. But before I involve myself in any other book on earth, I will finish Ulysses.
But, I have a more pressing issue. Last weekend I took my recycling to the center. At said center, there is a huge dumpster that you are supposed to put newspaper, fiberboard, paper, magazines, etc. Fine, makes it easy for me. You have to climb these stairs to stand above the dumpster, right next to it, to dump your stuff in. So I get up there, upturn my bags and boxes, and see a shit-ton of books. All these books that have been throw out or are too used to sell, or whatever, are just sitting in this paper recycling receptacle.
I start picking out some titles, not many: some are obscured, some are just obscure, but one or two of them I recognize. I do a quick glance around, set my bag down to step over the edge, and realize that there is someone across from me dumping their stuff in. Suddenly self-conscious and feeling slightly absurd, I grab my bag and hurry away, without looking back at the books, almost out of fear of seeing something I really want and thus creating a greater conundrum.
So here’s my appeal to you, dear reader. Is it morally, ethically, socially, and otherwise acceptable to get into a recycling dumpster to pull literature from the clutches of a pulper? If you had seen me climbing into the recycling dumpster would you have stopped me? Would you have chastised me? Would you have given me a cup of coffee and a sandwich, fearing that my good fortune had finally run out? Would you have banned me from that recycling center forever, thus forcing me to begin driving my dry goods all the way across the city to the other center?
In some ways it isn’t much different than shopping at a used book store. And it isn’t like the books were soaking in spoiled milk, beer, and that filthy liquid always found in the glass/plastics recycling bins. But I couldn’t bring myself to get them - not a major loss, but I can’t help but feel it’s a loss just the same.
“An empty gaze, his crows’ feet are a symbol of defeat; sick and tired of this meaninglessness...”
:: Freddy F. at 10:33 PM [+] ::
Comments:
It's a recycle bin. That means use again. Not garbage. I've seen a woman dig through trash while I was eating. That is more disturbing than watching someone pick out books. It's not banana peels or anything. You go and you get you some books!
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