My Terrifying, Horrific Tale (aka: I'm a big chicken)
This morning I was careening out of my door, running very late, carrying my purse, coffee, bus ticket, envelope and a large, unwieldy trash bag. I was contemplating the physics behind putting said bag into the dumpster without dumping the purse, coffee, bus ticket and envelope also, and I started toward the dumpster when my heart stopped. STOPPED!
My condo is in a "good neighborhood", which is situated a few kilometers from the drop-in centre, and will soon be sandwiched by another temporary homeless shelter. Let me first say that I’m GLAD that the shelters exist. Calgary is damn cold in the winter, and with the recent economic explosion, affordable housing is simply not available, so I’m happy that the city is stepping up to help some people through the winter by utilizing empty buildings. On that note, however, my area has many apartment buildings and condos, and is a popular route for Dumpster Divers.
So this morning it’s dark, I’m precariously balancing things, and I look at the dumpster and I swear to you, there’s a large man standing in the dumpster. I was terrified, and I can’t say exactly why. Maybe I was afraid, maybe I didn’t know where to put the garbage, maybe I thought he’d attack me for drug money, maybe I thought it was a dead body. It was, after all, a very dark, very empty alley, and I am a fairly scrawny, easily intimidated girl. I don’t think I had time to THINK anything. I think I just registered "Big man in dumpster" and froze. Because hello…. Big man in dumpster!!!! So I stood a few feet away, contemplating.
What were the risks?
He wasn’t moving.
I took a few steps forward.
Ohmygodhejustmoved. Or maybe… it’s just shadows.
I had to do something or I would miss my bus.
I took a few more steps, and THEN?
AND THEN?!
I realized that the man was NOT A MAN AT ALL!
The man was, in fact, two garbage bags, stacked on top of each other in the very dim dawn light. And I??? Am a big coward.
I tossed my garbage into the dumpster and headed down the alley. My heart clenched strangely as I came to the full realization that I’d just had a five minute standoff with two garbage bags.
I wouldn’t last ten minutes in New York :P
My condo is in a "good neighborhood", which is situated a few kilometers from the drop-in centre, and will soon be sandwiched by another temporary homeless shelter. Let me first say that I’m GLAD that the shelters exist. Calgary is damn cold in the winter, and with the recent economic explosion, affordable housing is simply not available, so I’m happy that the city is stepping up to help some people through the winter by utilizing empty buildings. On that note, however, my area has many apartment buildings and condos, and is a popular route for Dumpster Divers.
So this morning it’s dark, I’m precariously balancing things, and I look at the dumpster and I swear to you, there’s a large man standing in the dumpster. I was terrified, and I can’t say exactly why. Maybe I was afraid, maybe I didn’t know where to put the garbage, maybe I thought he’d attack me for drug money, maybe I thought it was a dead body. It was, after all, a very dark, very empty alley, and I am a fairly scrawny, easily intimidated girl. I don’t think I had time to THINK anything. I think I just registered "Big man in dumpster" and froze. Because hello…. Big man in dumpster!!!! So I stood a few feet away, contemplating.
What were the risks?
He wasn’t moving.
I took a few steps forward.
Ohmygodhejustmoved. Or maybe… it’s just shadows.
I had to do something or I would miss my bus.
I took a few more steps, and THEN?
AND THEN?!
I realized that the man was NOT A MAN AT ALL!
The man was, in fact, two garbage bags, stacked on top of each other in the very dim dawn light. And I??? Am a big coward.
I tossed my garbage into the dumpster and headed down the alley. My heart clenched strangely as I came to the full realization that I’d just had a five minute standoff with two garbage bags.
I wouldn’t last ten minutes in New York :P
posted by Apartment Girl at 3:28 PM
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