“It looks like a watermelon to me and a perfectly good watermelon at that.”
It didn’t take long for both ladies, bad knees and all to get out of the car, scoop up the watermelon with only one little rotten spot on the end, load it into the trunk and leave the parking lot. Back home the watermelon was divided in half and I’m sure, to them, it tasted better than the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Mom told me about this little escaped over the phone, announcing they planned to go back in a few days to see what else they could find.
That was the beginning of Mom and Aunt Jessie’s dumpster diving. Now instead of polyester pantsuits, they wore blue jeans. They went in the cool of the evening on the days the dumpster was quite full. This made it easier for them to reach things, but soon they scaled the side of the dumpster because the good stuff was always just out of reach.
Not long after the watermelon incident, I answered my phone and heard Mom’s excited voice: “Della when are you coming to Utah? Jessie and I are finding so much good food thrown in the dumpster.” Her voice grew animated and she talked fast, I could hardly understand her.
“Wait a minute, Mom, slow down. Who is throwing perfectly good food into a dumpster?” I twisted the phone cord around my fingers, rolled my eyes and wondered could she really be serious? My mother and my aunt rummaging through dumpsters like a couple of skid row bums!
“Oh Della, you know at the grocery store, if something has a little rotten spot in it they throw it away. Don’t they know that people are starving in this world? Jessie and I have been getting it out of the dumpster and bringing it home. It is really good stuff. Just the other day we got the most delicious pineapple and melons.”
“Okay, okay, Mom but what about germs and varmints in the dumpster? It is one thing to pick up a watermelon, but digging stuff out of the dumpster…I don’t know if that is such a good idea. Do you think it is safe to eat that food?”
“Della, for heavens sake, we cut out the bad spots, wash everything really good and it is better than what they have in the produce case in the store. I can hardly wait for you to get here, I need help taking care of all this stuff.” to be continued...Hugs To All...OWAV:)
PS...I wish I had photos of these shenanigans, but you will have to use your imagination...I will post some family photos, to add interest.
Back row, Blanche, Jessie, Front row, Lavinia, & Peggy
Reminds me of my childhood. We kids on the farm went dump scavenging. Neighbor to south had the best bottles, trinkets, tins!) The woman would invite me over for my birthday ( which my family made no big deal of) with cake and anything else in her pantry I wanted. Their only child was grown and lived far away. I only hope she found joy in giving me a special day.
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