Head-dibs

"Poverty will keep for you your true and tried friends; you will be rid of the men who were not seeking you for yourself, but for something which you have." (Seneca, Moral Letter 20: "Practicing What You Preach")

Lars Eighner's 1993 book Travels with Lizbeth includes the chapter, "On Dumpster Diving" wherein he recounts some very specific lessons learned from three years of living as a homeless person. Eighner was not always a homeless person as his life experiences include working as an attendant in a mental institution and college instructor. He was one of those whose sitation left him in the precarious position from which he wrote. Through this work specifically, Eighner demonstrates expertise in areas that we may find instructive, and perhaps be challenge to a level of personal reflection. Eighner would like us to understand a few basics starting with the discovery: what is a dumpster? The word "dumpster" is actually the name of the company that makes the product we know as the dumpster, the Dempsey Dumpster Company. Interestingly, the company has no generic name for the product. Eighner would like us to understand there is a vast range of meaning as well as thought...