English IIIB
Mrs. Parkinson
4/12/2016
The article “On Dumpster Diving” is a very eye opening piece. Lars Eighner, the author of the piece, is an experienced scavenger who sees no grief or shame in what he does. He does, however, understand where this shame or stigma arises from. “At first the new scavenger is filled with disgust and self-loathing. He is ashamed of being seen...but he cannot erase from his mind the stigma of eating garbage,” (Eighner 718). The loathing and disgust one may find early in their dumpster diving career, is completely understandable. Especially from our viewpoint. If before I read this article, I saw someone diving in the trash looking for food, I'd either scoff or pity them. But Eighner removes this feeling into one of interest and makes me feel wasteful due to what kinds of food I've thrown out. “Dumpster shyness begins to dissipate. The diver, after all, has the last laugh. He is finding all manner of good things...Those who disparage his profession are the fools, not he,” (Eighner 718). Through Eighner’s telling of what the evolution of a dumpster diver is, it wakes us up to a wasteful realization. That there is much we take for granted and those taking full advantage of the world around us do not deserve our scorn, but our respect.
