The Bin

Today... we went... shopping.

While Terri was looking at shoes, I went outside to just watch people. I was near a trash bin and watching the goings on absolutely fascinated me. I was watching for about 10 minutes and here's the story of that wonderful 10 minutes. This is in NO WAY a put down for the people involved.. They are doing what they need to do in order to live. Their lives are hard and I have the utmost respect for what they do. They aren't just collecting trash to gain money from recycling, they do a lot to keep said useful trash out of landfills. A lot of people go through trash to see what they can take, to recycle, so that bin had a fair few visitors.

Today, someone obviously bought a new pair of shoes and threw their old ones into the trash can.

Picture One
Lady number one, stops and pulls said pair of shoes from the bin.

Picture Two
After viewing the shoes, she decides that these are better than the ones she is wearing and swaps her shoes for her 'new' ones.

Picture Three
After saying goodbye to the old ones, she drops them into the bin and departs.

Picture Four
Enter lady number two. She digs around a little in the bin to see what she can use. She finds the newly discarded 'old' shoes and instantly decides that the 'old' shoes may well become her 'new' shoes.

Picture Five
She tries on the 'new' shoes and decides that even though they are probably better than her current shoes, they are a little too big.

Picture Six
She inspects the 'new' shoes extensively. Looks at them very closely, checks the joins and even holds them up to see if they smell OK. She decides they are in fact, worth a little more effort, so she delves into her treasure trove sack, and takes out some paper (the kind that people give you at shopping centres to advertise new stores etc..) She folds the paper to her satisfaction and inserts it into the 'new' shoes.

Picture Seven
She tries on the adjusted 'new' shoes. She decides that even though they are better than her own 'old' shoes, the adjustments don't make them acceptable enough to replace her well worn 'old' pair so she puts them back in the bin, (making the old then new into old again) and heads off on her merry way.

Picture Eight
Enter lady number three. She checks to contents of the bin and pulls out the recently re-discarded, newly discarded re-re-recycled shoes. She takes out the paper that lady number two has inserted and adds the paper to her collection, puts the 'old/new/new/old shoes back into the bin and heads off.

I would have loved to stay longer and observe but by that time, Terri returned with a new pair of shoes and we were off to buy ME a new pair of shoes because I had (within the previous 5 minutes) broken my current 'old' shoes.

I myself bought a new pair of shoes (well, sandals) and specifically deposited my old shoes into that same bin. By the time I went back to drop off my discards, it had been emptied. I was tempted to watch and see what happened to my 'old' shoes, but I didn't have time. One day, I may go back and just sit by a busy bin all day and take picture of what happens. THAT... would be fun