Down In The Dumps

There's an old saying that goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure. I agree.

To most people, a city dump is not exactly a prime place to go shopping. Most people don't even like being at a dump, let alone scavenging through piles of rubbish for things they can use. Most people. Me, I'm not so particular. I don't mind being at the dump - never know what I'll find there. Obviously, I'm not talking about garbage or broken and busted items, which no longer function in any sort of intended capacity, but people routinely throw away perfectly good "junk." It may be they no longer have a use for it or perhaps it's not new enough. Whatever the reason, they toss it out because it's become worthless to them. 

Over the years, I've benefited from this many times. My first bicycle came from the dump. An uncle found the bike and brought it to me. The only thing wrong with it was the missing seat. But I didn't care in the least. At three years old, I hadn't yet learned that I was supposed to be grossed out by the thought of anything coming from the dump. I was elated to have a bicycle of my own, missing seat or not! Never-mind that I didn't actually know how to ride a bike yet.

That quickly changed. I learned to ride on that bicycle, standing on the pedals - with no seat and without training wheels.

A few years later, that same uncle brought me an electric guitar - from the dump. A perfectly good guitar. I plugged it in and everything worked fine. It even sounded good and stayed in tune! I still have it nearly thirty years later.

Since then, I've found a few treasures at the dump myself. I'm continually amazed by what people are willing to throw away. I can see a lot if you shaking your head, more amazed that I would consider something from the dump worth salvaging than by the fact that someone would throw it away. But I don't have a problem with shopping at the dump. That could be because I spend a lot of time there, since I've worked at the dump - excuse me, sanitary landfill - for the past 16 years. At least that's where I report to for work. Then I get into a semi and haul 68 tons of garbage back to the dump every day. Junk mostly. Other people's trash that sometimes becomes my treasure!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit www.bruceaborders.com. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders