Dumpster Diving

Dumpster diving has reached a new level in the touristed area of Bangkok where we are staying. I know that making a living off of what others throw away has become quite a fad, and that it is not just a way of subsistence. In New York City, there is a whole community that lives off of their finds-food, clothing, the whole thing..

An oddity that we see here is people selling used items. These could be books (highly normal), travel accessories (sometimes), and even shoes. I don't really see any tourists frequenting the used item stalls, other than for books, so I don't know who buys it, but it must be lucrative because last night I saw a couple going through baskets of garbage from a hotel. They were pulling out shoes, clothes, sect. They were bare handed, which is simply disgusting considering that used toilet paper also goes in garbage cans, but they had pulled out a lot of stuff! One thing about traveling with just a backpack is that once something becomes unnecessary or damaged/broken, the easiest thing is to throw it away. I suppose I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who had tossed usable stuff-but I never imagined the lengths people would go to to get it!
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