It started with some pots and pans, and a dish drainer. Like I predicted, I broke down and got new pots and pans when I could afford them. Then, some girl who had the same taste in clothes as me left a pile of them on the beach. I don't usually take used clothes, (San Francisco has a bedbug epidemic, this is why I'm saving up for a NEW couch as opposed to a used or free one) but they were all surfer girl clothes, all my favorite brands, stuff I would buy myself. Yes, I'm a materialistic tree hugging freak, so sue me. I even liked the girls perfume, the clothes I found on the street smelled better than mine.
But the eggs put me over the top. I came out of my favorite local produce store, delighted that I had purchased the very first slice of pumpkin chocolate chip cake plastic free, before they wrapped up the individual slices, and there they were, piled high peeking out of the dumpster, a stack of dozens of eggs. I was almost out of eggs. I know that eggs last for four weeks past the expiration date, I know how to tell if an egg is good by putting it in water, and I know that some chickens had to lay those eggs. I looked at this stack of free perfectly good eggs, destined for San Francisco's municipal compost, and couldn't resist, I looked to see if anyone was looking, they weren't even all the way in the dumpster, I opened one. It was perfect. Not one broken egg. I put it under my arm. I got greedy, I looked at the next one. Only one broken egg, just barely broken. I grabbed that box too. It was thrilling.
Now I knew the schedule. I went back a week later, this time at night, with a flashlight. Bananas. I hadn't eaten bananas in almost a year, since deciding to eat only local produce for environmental reasons. Then peppers, a tomato, it was almost like shopping!
I got bananas again tonight. I had my choice of them! I think I lucked out with the eggs, but this is my new habit. My schedule lends itself to dumpster diving. I'm going to shop dumpster first.
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