Dumpster Deception
When I started helping my friends Anna and Franco a few months ago move from their home of thirty years to a senior’s home, it immediately became apparent that one of my biggest challenges and expenses was going to be the disposal of garbage and unrecyclable items. As the clearing out of the house began I had to throw things out the front door making huge piles of garbage. Then each week I would do the time consuming task of filling each and every garbage bin to overflowing including as many neighbours bins I could get my hands on! As well, each week I would try catching the garbage truck as it passed by in hopes that they would see my ever growing pile of garbage, take pity on me, and be willing to take a little extra! Soon I got to know the garbage men by name and looked forward to our weekly chat and extra garbage pickup. As great as this was, it would not suffice the amount of garbage we were accumulating on a daily basis. Then one day when I was at Franco’s house I happened to look outside the upstairs bedroom window and noticed that a large dumpster bin had recently been placed on a neighbour’s driveway across the street. “Divine opportunity” was my immediate thought and so I quickly sprang into action running across the street to ring the doorbell! A disgruntled lady came to the door. I told her my story of helping the seniors across the road and asked if I could pay to share in the usage of her bin. She told me she was moving, the bin was there for only a few days longer, had cost her $1000/week and that for $100 cash I could use it. Knowing my mountain of garbage piled sky high at the front door I suggested she see my pile before agreeing to it! She told me there was no need to see my pile of garbage, she was happy to help, and that $100 would suffice. How nice! Seemed like an awesome deal to me but wanted to run it past Franco first. Of course he too thought it was a great idea and so I quickly sealed the deal with a crisp $100. Before I left her house I also got the courage to also ask her about disposing of Franco’s deepfreeze which hadn’t worked in years that he had been using to store his pasta!! That too she thought would be possible in the dumpster. Sweet!!! So for the next few days I kept piling things in the dumpster. It was great!! Took a fraction of the time to get rid of things and could handle the large volume we had. What was even more amazing was that the dumpster was emptied almost every morning so just when I felt we were running out of room or felt guilty that I was overdoing my usage, “poof!” it would be empty by morning. Reminded me of the Elves and the Shoemaker and how finished shoes would magically appear for the poor shoemaker by morning as he slept! As the days passed not only was there an ever-emptied dumpster bin but it stayed on the drive day after day. Never knowing when my luck would run out I did my best to discard my pile by the end of each day. Each additional day was a bonus and I was thrilled each time I turned the corner into Franco’s drive and saw it on the drive yet again. To say I got our $100 worth was a huge understatement!
Then one morning while working at Franco’s house the doorbell rang and a gentleman stood on the front step introducing himself as the “house flipper” from across the street. He immediately shared that the purpose of his visit was to inquire about purchasing Franco’s house and wondered if we could strike a deal. He then went on to explain how he had begun renovations across the street and had recently placed a dumpster on the driveway, explained his renovation timeline, and how he had finally evicted his female renter!! As he spoke, I quickly realized that the kind lady I had spoken to about filling the dumpster was in fact NOT the home owner but rather the now evicted renter who of course was all too happy to score some extra cash for the use of the dumpster at the house flippers expense! Pretty dishonest, clever, and quick thinking of her. And I believed her hook, line, and sinker thanking her and even esteemed her for her genuine kindness and willingness to help out her senior neighbours across the street!!
Deception bothers me a lot I think because of it subtlety, how it often preys on the trusting, and seems to be easily justified by those skilled at its use.
I recently came across Mr Shakespeare’s quote which was a great reminder and realignment.
“Love all,
trust a few,
do wrong to none”.
William Shakespeare
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