Is It Really Just Trash?

After dinner when the neighborhood becomes quiet, I take Doc outside for her evening walk. It’s important that she get her exercise, so I don’t let her make any excuses. I will bring over my leash when necessary and drop it at her feet if she looks like she has lulled herself into complacency on the couch.

She has a sturdy gate for only having two legs and keeps up a nice pace. I have trained her to let me stop at most trees and fire hydrants to get the latest neighborhood gossip by sniffing the pee-mail left behind by the dogs. It is always an enjoyable outing, but by far, my favorite night to walk is “trash night.”That is the one night of the week when the humans put all the junk they don’t want out by the curb for the big trash trucks to pick up and haul away. You can really tell a lot about people by the stuff they get rid of.

Doc may not admit it, but I know she enjoys looking at all the neighbor’s trash too. I have known her to take stuff from the curb, bring it home and recycle it. On this particular night we spot a toilet and sink wrapped up at the curb. On encountering the neighbor that put it there I become mortified when Doc suggests to the poor man that he could use the toilet to plant flowers in and put it in the front yard. He laughs nervously not knowing if she is kidding or not. I try to act like I don’t know her when she makes those kind of remarks and keep moving down the sidewalk away from her.

I think Doc has a hard time seeing all the things that are thrown out that she would either, fix, give away or recycle. Doc grew up with a father that re-used, or fixed everything, so those values have stayed with her through life. She is also sentimental and when someone gives her something, she puts in a place of honor in her house where she can see it everyday.

Sometimes people make fun of Doc and call her “cheap” but knowing her the way I do I think it runs deeper than that. The psychoanalytical part of Doc’s brain worries that some people dispose of everything in their life too easily. I have to admit, but when you think of it that way, “trash night” takes on a whole new meaning. So beware, you never know when Doc and I could be examining the trash in your neighborhood.