Surviving On Dumpsters

This is my first blog...I want to start by introducing myself..you can call me GPS, short for Garbage Pale Sammy. Now why would I have a name like that you ask? Because I am a proud dumpster diver. I would confess to you that I think of myself as a professional dumpster diver.

In the coming blogs I post you will read about my adventures in surviving the world by dumpster diving, panhandling and any other way I can think of. I will also be posting anything I care to share with you about my life. First thing you should know about me is I am a 23 year old mother of two, Im married and I will not disclose me location for obvious reasons.

I grew up in a decent enough home, never needed to beg for anything but I was not wealthy by any means. My mom was a single woman, worked 3 jobs to keep us happy. I first learned how to make money off of other people's garbage from my grandmother. She specialized in antiques, in fact she had her own little shop. She would take me out on the weekends scowering the neigborhoods for garbage piles. We would find chairs, nic-nics and all kinds of little treasures. Sometimes they just needed a quick sanding and maybe some paint and they would end up in her shop with a $600 price tag. Oh' the good ol' days. But I grew up fast.

I didnt really start garbage hunting for myself until I was in my late teens, I had already gave birth to my first child. I started out by just driving around on garbage days and taking furniture for myself and other odds and ends. Now I make a living off of it. So many places waste usefull shit, you wouldnt believe it. drug store, retail shops, thrift stores.....its a wonderland to me.

A couple years ago McDonalds was having their yearly Monopoly promotion and while I was sitting enjoying my nuggets, staring out into the parking lot it hit me like a ton of bricks...I wouldnt have to but another super-sized fry again. Me and my husband casually walked out of the restuarnt and over to the brick cell that housed the dumpster..."Damnnit' it was locked". A normal person might just give up and leave, hell' a normal person would have never walked over perpossly to the stinky can behind the drivethrough in the first place. I had my husband give me a lift and I felt like I was in a Mission Impossible movie, soundtrack playing in the background and all. I dove into the sluge filled dumpster like a champ, tearing open bag after bag. After 20 minutes I made my way back over the wall, and after a final count I had 5 free medium fries, 6 bigmacs, 8 Mcflurrys and $80 Best buy dollars...woo hoo!

So Im sure you would like to call me discusting but its probably because you are the person who goes and spends $15 a day collecting those game pieces every year.

I have plenty of other stories, but if I told them to you now you would have no reason to come back. So for now, savor your Big'n'tasty and I will see you soon.

-GPS