the bins: what's the big deal?

this past weekend i finally went out to the infamous “bins” south of portland. my assumptions were correct about the place being piles of junk that bring the packrats of the world to tears of joy. i attempted to rummage through a pile of clothes but had to stop because i was starting to feel sick. the clothes smelled stale and unwashed; and there was a faint odor of poop that i couldn’t be sure was coming from the clothing or someone next to me. i didn't want to catch a creepy disease and there was nowhere to wash my hands. i decided to get away and find the books. books are relatively safe, right? for the most part. the only thing that was disgusting was an old dress-thing that reeked of mothballs someone left on a pile of books. maybe someone found it and decided against the baby blue crinoline on their way to the cashier.

as i was looking through the books, i was also people watching. there were some people smart enough to wear rubber gloves in their search for junk. gloves would be a good idea because i could almost visualize the disgusting microorganisms and bacteria swarming on my own hands from touching just a couple things. there were a few pinched-faced women with noisy kids. a woman walked into me that looked like she had been doing meth for the past five years. yes, i know. classy. there were couples and families with grocery carts full of things. almost every single cart had some kind of stuffed animal in it. there was a couple women excited about a stuffed dog puppet thing and taking turns doing their best “dog” voice while flapping its little mouth.

i found a couple books, one of them an old psychology textbook from the 1950s and the other, a wine book from 2007, which is cool because it makes it easier to choose wines. usually i go in to buy wine and not only am i indecisive but my eyes start glazing over. finally, i pick a bottle i am familiar with or get one that sounds good and has a good price. “sounds good” is something in the label that includes something about a cherry flavor. i’m a sucker for cherries. luckily, the wine is usually good but i don’t like pressing my luck.

so that was my experience at the bins. i don’t know why people make such a big deal of it. i found it disgusting. the clothes – forget it. i don’t care if it’s charged by the pound. i wouldn’t wear anything in those disgusting piles. the furniture all looked like they were missing parts and most of them were about to fall apart. the books were okay. there were some interesting titles in there and lots of christian god and jesus-related books. obviously there's not a big demand if that many of them end up in the bins. there was even a jahova’s witness book. maybe i should have picked that up and used it as a halloween costume prop. the “bins” is an outlet store for goodwill, so it makes sense that it’s piles of the rejected things not purchased in the stores. honestly i’ll pass. if i want thrift things i’d rather go to the stores. at least it’s organized.