Let me know what you think after you've read it.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/
ers-3810705.php
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
My Article in San Antonio Express-News
Check out my article entitled "City Bulk Day Brings Forth the Scavenger" in this coming Sunday's San Antonio Express-News newspaper. You will find it in the S A Life section. No, the S A in S A Life does not stand for S A Slack, but that's cool, huh!
Let me know what you think after you've read it.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/
ers-3810705.php
Let me know what you think after you've read it.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/
ers-3810705.php
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15 comments:
Imagine watching the bulk-item pickup from the eyes of an Iraqi. My client was concerned as he saw people picking up items from the piles of stuff but was fascinated by the truck that picked up the piles. He wants that job and will do it for free! He even sent me a video.
Imagine watching the bulk-item pickup from the eyes of an Iraqi. My client was concerned as he saw people picking up items from the piles of stuff but was fascinated by the truck that picked up the piles. He wants that job and will do it for free! He even sent me a video.
great article!
great article
Thank you for your comments.
Interesting piece! We have the same thing happen here in Austin. I have to wonder how many of those folks actually derive a substantial portion of their income from grabbing these goods each year. Or perhaps, many do it for fun, or the gripping need to prevent the early demise of possible "treasures" (similar to many that troll garage sales every Saturday.)
Interesting piece! We have the same thing happen here in Austin. I have to wonder how many of those folks actually derive a substantial portion of their income from grabbing these goods each year. Or perhaps, many do it for fun, or the gripping need to prevent the early demise of possible "treasures" (similar to many that troll garage sales every Saturday.)
This is an e-mail sent to me by Linda Dee:
Enjoyed your story about bulk-items and it brought back memories. Memories?! Of bulk items?! Yes.
I'm in Universal City and the system out here is twice a year the city utility yard opens its gates
to residents to dump pretty much anything except hazmat. It lasts for a couple of weeks, and is
very well-utilized by residents.
I used to work in SA in the office of a group home that serves developmentally-delayed people. The
office was in a room that faced the street. You may recall that for about a year the city tried
a different approach which didn't work out well: Rather than the whole neighborhood putting stuff
curbside at once, they tried a twice-a-year call-in system. It lasted only about one cycle then
went back to the whole-neighborhood system.
Anyway, when it was on the call-in system, the group home administrator decided that a lot of
cleaning/purging as well as maintenance trimming trees needed done, so she called in and
a pick-up date was set. Staff motivated group home residents to purge junk, plus other junk
from the garage, tree limbs, all of it went. From my vantage point in the office, that darn
pile took on a life of its own! It grew, shrank, grew some more, right until pickup time.
Even neighbors piled stuff on it, but it seemed to be scavenged by people driving by.
The only problem with scavengers is when something like this happens - the man next door to the
group home (when the whole-neighborhood system was in place) put out an old patio door, the
sliding-glass type. During the night a scavenger came by and broke the glass to get the metal
frame. Metal is very popular since they can sell it. The poor man had a horrible mess of
broken glass all over the sidewalk that he had to deal with. Though not quite as convenient,
our dump-it-yourself system out here in UC may be a bit more lucrative for the city because
they can salvage the metal and get the $$$$ for their coffers. Either way is fine, as long
as it keeps folks from dumping bulk items along the side of the road.
Very good descriptive article. I live in Gilbert, Arizona and once a month the town will pick up bulk items. I've noticed similar scavenging activities on those days. Sometimes we put things we don't want out by our driveway with a sign on them that says "free". And the things usually disappear. Saves us a trip to the thrift store donations box.
This is from an e-mail I received from Helen:
I loved the article. Having lived in areas where "stuff" was collected, your article brought the
memories back...and I could see those people you described.
John wrote in his e-mail:
I found it. Great article!
And Samantha wrote in her e-mail to me:
Wow! I really like this article. I could almost see you looking out the window, watching the passers by. I could imagine the piles of junk, see the scavengers diving for treasure.
Great job! Keep it up! You're a wonderful writer.
Gwendolyn wrote in an e-mail:
"Great article!! When we lived in Fort Worth it was that way every Friday. I have to say that I found a few outdoor kids toys in peoples piles, which we in turn passed on to someone else to use. I remember those days fondly...thanks for bringing the memory back! :)"
Another e-mail from reader, Linda Dee:
Forgot this oldie when I sent the other:
As I mentioned, in UC we have a dump-it-yourself at the city utility yard 2X a year.
The event used to be held with dumpsters placed in the city park, but I suspect it was
changed due to many outsiders using it. When it was at the park one year my sister
helped me purge the garage of many unwanted items. We loaded stuff up, then went to
the park to dump it. As we drove up to a dumpster, a friendly man with a toothless
grin approached and asked, "Y'all droppin' off or pickin' up?" We didn't do a thing
from that point. He and a helper unloaded what he wanted of our junk onto the bed
of his much larger, partially-filled rig, and pitched castoffs into the dumpster.
BTW, "castoffs" constituted very little of our load by the time he finished!
Scavenging at its finest! I have a friend in Eastern Oregon who is married to
a guy who does this and she says it's like being married to Fred Sanford!
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