Do dumpster divers have no shame?

[ryaan21]

After my dad died my mom had to clean out the old house we all grew up in. To much stuff, none of us kids were living there and it was an old 2 story 4-5 bedroom home. The dumpster was in the yard maybe a day before the scumbag scavengers tried to get into it.

Knocking on the door, while we were all grieving to ask if they could take some stuff out of it. What kind of @#$@#$ does something like this? Yeah there was a ton of nice stuff in there but mom didnt want it anymore.

So to make it a little easier for them to not want to dig in our garbage on private property, we smashed everything in there with an axe and hammer.

I think it is amazing that people think that they can come on to private property. One of these days someone is going to get shot I am guessing.

Just because it is trash, does not give you the right to come onto private property to scavenge it.

 

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[jeff of pa]

naturally timing may have been a little off but seriously, smashing things to keep them out of others hands ? a sign on the door maybe would have helped ?
"grieving family, friends & family only please"

well seriously, I don't like saying things that may offend members so ...................

interesting position

 

[Keppy]

Well if you are sort of a treasure hunter & one that metal detects…Why did you not sell it if it was as good as you say………… Or give it to some charity … It would have been a lot better than destroying it...

 

[mudd]

Sorry but what do you do? At least they tried to be respectable and ask to make sure. I got a new wheel chair for my grandmother like that, so I guess I am shameless.

 

[Tnmountains]

When my Mom died we donated all her clothes to a women's charity. The furniture and things the heirs did not want we gave to the needy. That is the way our Mom was and sure she would have approved.
Sorry for the loss. It is a tough time. We took a year to make any decisions as we were just to distraught to make rational decisions after her death.
Again sorry for your loss the items were the families do with as they wished but people may not agree. Times re very hard for many…

 

[NHBandit]

Sorry for your loss but I don't see how anyone could have known the circumstances of that dumpster being there. How it it disrespectful when I'm sure the scavengers just thought it was normal everyday trash ? Hell man, they even had the good manners to ask. It's no different than putting an old lawnmower out to the street on trash day and having someone take it. If you cared about that stuff you would have kept it. Smashing it was probably a way of venting your grief over the loss of you dad but talking about shooting people for "stealing" junk out of a dumpster is just plain nuts. When my mom passed 4 years ago we had to meet my daughter at mom's house & go through all her things. After everyone took what they wanted there was a pile of "stuff" left over that nobody wanted. ALOT of stuff. We made arrangements for a guy who sells at the local flea market to come clean it out for free. The only stipulation was that he had to take it all. It was hard to see it go but in reality it was mostly crap. "scumbag scavengers" ? There's a whole group of guys on here who make a few extra bucks doing exactly that. And aren't you also a scavenger if you use a metal detector to look for things someone else either lost or discarded ? Very odd to see someone who is obviously a "treasure hunter" considering your equipment and your number of posts to be calling someone who does the very same thing only using a different method, a scumbag... I think you were more likely just angry about your loss and some strangers came by at a bad time and you took it out on them. They "came onto private property" ? They knocked on the door man.. You shoot at girl scouts selling cookies too ? What about vacuum cleaner salesmen ? Pushy bastids... lol

 

[travelerga]

give it to a local charity, like a homeless shelter, Goodwill, Salvation Army. what a waste.

 

[Red James Cash]

Knocking on the door, while we were all grieving to ask if they could take some stuff out of it. What kind of @#$@#$ does something like this?

People cant read minds

 

[ryaan21]

I guess I should have clarified, there were buzzards coming in the yard without asking. That is where the private property thing came up.

No longer a big deal. Just made me wonder how the minds of a buzzard/scavenger work.



I mean look at it like this. Even if my dad had not died, there were people ILLEGALLY coming on to private property to try to scavenge. Put that in metal detecting terms for a second and then think about it.

We were nice to the ones who came to the door, but the other ones were told to leave and NEVER come back.

Not being a dick, just trying to understand thieves and the like.

 

[NHBandit]

I don't do the dumpster diving thing myself but I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that taking things that have been thrown away in a dumpster that's located outside would be considered "stealing"... You keep calling them thieves. I don't get that. I'm betting if the police were called they would simply tell the guys doing it to leave and there would be no arrests. In fact if you pulled a gun on one of them simply for picking your trash YOU would likely be the one going to jail. You make it sound like they were taking things of value that were NOT in the trash. In my mind when you throw something away it's not yours anymore. Trespassing maybe but I don't buy the "thieves" comment. Not looking to argue about it but I have to disagree with your comments.

 

[ryaan21]

That is fine, to each their own. If something is on private property whether it is in a trash can or just sitting there taking it is stealing.

I noticed this post went from me saying "I think it is amazing that people think that they can come on to private property. One of these days someone is going to get shot I am guessing" to me pulling a gun on someone. I said that meaning that not everyone is as forgiving and polite as we were about it. Some people take trespassing really serious.

I guess if the dumpster is on public property, people can do what they want, but to defend someone coming onto private property to steal something is a little odd. You NH werent doing that, but it seems others were.

The whole point of my post was the fact that it was private property and how people will even come bang on a door in order to try to scavenge stuff.

 

[Follows Camp Craig]

Where some of us would consider this behavior Taboo, others consider it the natural flow of things.
I remember attending a funeral reception on the East Fork at Camp Williams to say goodbye to a friend.
As the crowd dwindled to just a handful, one of my tenants proceeded to fish out the plastic platters, plates and cutlery from
all of the trash cans.

Here I am posting up "Lonnies" treasure by proxy,
where as all of us saw it as trash.

Awkward indeed!

 

[Follows Camp Craig]

I have often wanted to burn items left behind by a loved one who has passed away.

Squabble, scheme and steal over all of the ash you want!
Rather than defile once a pleasant memory.

 

[NHBandit]

That is fine, to each their own. If something is on private property whether it is in a trash can or just sitting there taking it is stealing.

I noticed this post went from me saying "I think it is amazing that people think that they can come on to private property. One of these days someone is going to get shot I am guessing" to me pulling a gun on someone. I said that meaning that not everyone is as forgiving and polite as we were about it. Some people take trespassing really serious.

I guess if the dumpster is on public property, people can do what they want, but to defend someone coming onto private property to steal something is a little odd. You NH werent doing that, but it seems others were.

The whole point of my post was the fact that it was private property and how people will even come bang on a door in order to try to scavenge stuff.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion but I still disagree that taking something out of the trash is the same as stealing. And people knocking on the door ? Are there "no trespassing" signs posted ? Knocking on the door is what folks are supposed to do when they want to talk to the people who live there. Your a detectorist. Have you never knocked on a strangers door and asked permission to detect private property ? Believe me, I do understand that it upset you that people were doing that in your time of grieving but they had no way of knowing that. Purposely destroying things that you didn't want just no nobody else could have them is a bit over the top in my book. We all do things differently I guess. If it was me and the stuff was still usefull to someone I'd have saved the cost of a dumpster and put it all out by the street with a big sign that said FREE.

 

[ryaan21]

I think you are overlooking the fact that people were coming onto private property to take stuff. Not everyone knocked. Some people just wandered into the yard and starting digging through the dumpster. We even made people put stuff back. Would you or anyone else here wander into someones yard without asking and just start detecting?

I dont detect private yards unless I am invited to. I most certainly dont go door knocking to see if I can. If someone sees us out detecting and is interested in it and offers us their yard that is one thing.

It is over and done with, I just hope people here arent going onto private property without permission and digging through peoples stuff. Trash or not, it does not belong to them.

 

[Flex68]

"Mountain out of a mole hill" IMHO

If the property is not posted, and you're bidging about someone knocking on the door to ask permission to dumpster dive, then I am having trouble identifying any wrongdoing, intentional or otherwise.

I take Lexapro to keep me from shooting innocent people in my driveway.........just a thought

 

[Generic_Lad]

So you're complaining about people taking stuff that you were going to pay to have someone else take away? And instead of donating them (or letting someone else get it) you decide to smash it simply to spite people?

 

[ryaan21]

The people knocking on the door did not know that a family member had just passed, I will give them that. But I guess since I would not go out scrounging other peoples stuff, it kind of took me aback. In our town you don't have to post your property as private. Otherwise people could just come wandering in your yard anytime they want. People actually tried getting in the yard and dumpster which was ON PRIVATE property without even asking. The just wandered in like we were having a fricking rummage sale. Started going through boxes and what not. It is in the trash for a reason. The reason is we didnt want any of it anymore and it was going to be destroyed at the landfill. Would you just go into someones yard to metal detect without asking since it is not posted?

 

[ryaan21]

So you're complaining about people taking stuff that you were going to pay to have someone else take away? And instead of donating them (or letting someone else get it) you decide to smash it simply to spite people?

We told the people who knocked that it was not a good time to be knocking. Then we saw people who DID NOT KNOCK just walk onto our private property and try to start taking stuff. We made them put it back and then smashed it all so we would not have to deal with buzzards while trying to get our affairs in order. We were paying the second the dumpster got dropped off whether anything was in it or not.

 

[Justice70]

Condolences to you and your family. You know ,when I first started reading this thread the other day, I couldn't have disagreed with you more and wanted to reply but did not want to be confrontational. After reading the newer posts I have to say that I do agree with you on one point. I do think it would appear very pushy for someone to just walk onto your property unannounced and start going through your stuff/trash. Garbage set out by the road is one thing but a dumpster that is probably up by the house is another. If a dumpster is at a place of business then I don't see anything wrong with it, as long as your not leaving stuff laying on the ground. Knocking on the door to ask permission is something I do as a detectorist and the vast majority of the people are very good natured about it. I don't see anything wrong with knocking on the door to ask to go through someones stuff that they are obviously throwing out, it is after all, just another form of treasure hunting.