Everybody Digs It

Testimonials from real people, regarding their real finds in real dumpsters!

From: Mary Catherine Hardy
To: Joe Nickell
Subject: Re: dumpster

Hey J,

I furnished nearly my entire apartment from trash when I lived next to you. I found a beautiful Lane oak coffee table that just needed a little sanding. It wouldn't fit in my suitcase, so I sold it to a coworker for $5. I also got a kitchen table, and a couch that had fleas. That was the only bad thing...

I'd go diving with you, but I've gotta work friday. Don't go to the Salvation Army! A mutual friend of ours (Amy) got chased by two cop cars for taking something from there, even though it was raining and the thing would be worthless by morning. Yikes! Nothing worse than bored cops...

From: Sue Goodney
To: j@rox.com
Subject: Re: dumpster

Hey Joe,

Any of the dorms would also seem excellent choices. When I was at Michigan undergrad, you wouldn't even believe what got set in the hallways (didn't even have to dive for it!). Especially in dorms where kids with their own Mercedes and such lived (don't know if there're whole dorms like that here, but that'd be the place to go if such an enchanted land indeed does exist). I once found a pair of NEW modems (1200 baud, which was pretty good at the time, a statement which surely dates me). Right in the stairwell. In the boxes. Same brand/models. I'd also heard reports of like-new VCRs & TVs- all sorts of stuff. Presumably anything that wouldn't fit into people's cars (and Mercedes are pretty small). I don't know though, me, I'd pack the VCR & TV & such first. I could see the wardrobe taking precedence in some of these cases, though.

Well that's my $.02.

-Suzanne

From: "Josette A. Torres"
To: j@rox.com
Subject: Re: dumpster

My favorite find has to be the futon mattress one of my neighbors was throwing out at the end of some purdue semester. yeah, i already had one, but you never know when you'll need extra crashspace. i put a black futon cover on it and voila! more bed for me.

another time i found a box filled with 300 baud acoustic coupler modems, but i traded it for two packs of cigarettes. there's this place on my walk home that has a ton of computer monitors sitting by the dumpster, but they've all been rained on. bleah.

-Josette

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