How to deal with fellow diver who's hogging

[Maryesp]

Hi fellow divers! I have run into a beautiful honey hole behind a Save Mart. Instead of tossing their soon to expire foods in in the garbage, they wheel them out by the cart fulls to the dumpster and leave them for anyone who would like to take them. Perfect situation right? Well there is a man who keeps showing up 30 minutes before the cart is placed out and just wheels the entire cart away for himself. I've watched him take everything from 15 gallons of milk, 10 containers of sour cream, 100 boxes of granola bars at a time and just start shoeing me away yelling NO so that I cannot have any. It's out there for EVERYONE and he's hogging ALL of it. I myself am a diver who only takes what I need and leaves for others to enjoy too. This guy does not feel the same. How do I go about approaching this situation without a conflict? I'm a younger mom and he's an older man whom does not speak English so I cannot communicate to him I would only like 10-15 items so I can feed my family as well. Any advice would be appreciated, I'm a single diver so taking someone with me is pretty much not an option.

 

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[Owassokie]

Show up 1 time before him. When he shows up, do the unexpected and encourage him to stay and then share with him. Hopefully he'll get the hint.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

That is a decent suggestion, except you have no idea if the guy is dangerous.

Thats a bad situation to find yourself in.
I feel like it would be better to find a way to improve your long term food security situation.

I would consider finding a partner to help out.
Perhaps another single mother? Splitting household expenses..splitting work shifts so daycare costs are eliminated.

I see community gardens becoming popular. Food preserving is inexpensive.
Look to see how your great grandparents lived in the 1930’s.
None of it was easier, but they always made things stretch further.

FLAME ON
FYI there is a dedicated dumpster diving forum further down the list.

 

[niffler]

Call Immigration and Customs Enforcement hotline 1-866-347-2423

 

[N/A]

Go there with a black jacket and have the letters ICE printed on the front and back, I doubt he will bother you after that

 

[smokeythecat]

Yeah, an ice jacket would do it. Or bring a friend who is a police officer.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I actually think I could become hooked on dumpster diving. People are SO wasteful.
The better off they are, they more valuable stuff they throw away usually. The landfill is a perfect place to experience this.

 

[A2coins]

Go into the store speak with the manager and see if they will let you come in before they take the cart outside or if you come at a certain time can they leave a box of stuff for you.

 

[Madmox]

Go into the store speak with the manager and see if they will let you come in before they take the cart outside or if you come at a certain time can they leave a box of stuff for you.

Best solution here. Though calling immigration gets my vote.

 

[A2coins]

I would suggest if you are desperate to feed your family you could talk to many restaurants that toss soup and line food at the end of the night many might hold it for you. just a thought.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Best solution here. Though calling immigration gets my vote.

Kind of like calling CPS on your neighbors because you don’t like them isn’t it?

 

[fyrffytr1]

Going to the manager may not work. He might decide to start damaging the products so they can't be used and throwing them away. He may not even be aware that the stuff is being left out for takers.

 

[Madmox]

Kind of like calling CPS on your neighbors because you don’t like them isn’t it?

I guess it depends if your neighbors are abusing or neglecting children.... IF the guy that is sniping the goods is illegal then ICE would be a way to solve the problem.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

When I was a child, and Mom married my stepfather and bought an old house, we went to the local city dump every Sunday - 1962 or thereabouts.

I built my stamp collection from that dump, and always as a family we'd take things home which improved our lives. People throw away the darnedest things

What you're facing is a wee bit of insanity. Be very careful how you deal with this sub-human. Trust no one on this, paranoia is sometimes a very wise tool.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I guess it depends if your neighbors are abusing or neglecting children.... IF the guy that is sniping the goods is illegal then ICE would be a way to solve the problem.

I meant calling the law on someone because they don’t speak English and are selfishly taking more than their “fair share” of discarded expired food (which probably isn’t illegal) might be comparable to calling CPS on your neighbors because they always play their music too loud and have kids.

 

[Madmox]

I meant calling the law on someone because they don’t speak English and are selfishly taking more than their “fair share” of discarded expired food (which probably isn’t illegal) might be comparable to calling CPS on your neighbors because they always play their music too loud and have kids.

Ehhhh.... I understand what you are getting at. But as the OP stated originally this guy is acting irrationally and could easily pose a risk her or someone else. Which in my mind counts out the whole getting there early and sharing it with him to teach him a valuable life lesson. I guess from my perspective you could escalate the situation by bringing someone else which may lead to someone getting hurt when people start feeling threatened and pull some kind of weapon or god knows what. She could leave and go somewhere else but that doesn’t address her originally stated need of the food in question. So that leaves 2 options in my mind. Intercept the food before he can get to it which will cause escalation as he sees what’s going on. She can’t really call the cops because if taking the food isn’t illegal then he has as much right to it as her. That leaves another solution which achieves her ends without risk to her. Calling ICE (assuming he is illegal) will solve the problem presumably as he will be deported. It’s definitely not the high road but a solution to the problem.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Mary, ya got any really big boy friends? That makes arsehole's pay attention and be more polite

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Madnox - I think your missing my point. That’s ok.
I’ll just leave it at that. There is a reason I don’t live in town

 

[xcopperstax]

There are many solutions. You need to use some cunning tricks to outsmart this guy. Read the threads on coinstar strategies. Befriend the person who brings out the cart. Show up earlier than your competition and bring a gift for him like a coffee or something that shows sharing. Smile. Although you speak different languages maybe with gestures you can make your intentions known. Keep showing up and show this guy that you are not backing down. You probably won't resolve anything by brandishing a weapon or showing force. If you make it difficult for the management to put out free stuff they will change their strategy and throw it away. I would avoid complaining to the store. If none of this works maybe find someone else who is in need and team up to outsmart the guy. Think like a treasure hunter: If you call the police / authority you could ruin things for both of you. Calling Ice is like kicking the can down the road. He'll end up somewhere else doing the same thing.

 

[vpnavy]

...there is a man who keeps showing up 30 minutes before the cart is placed out...

Seems to me that if he is showing up 30 minutes BEFORE the cart is placed out - he is getting notification as to when to show up. I would politely ask the person if you could share some of his goodies.