Recently SteveO and I decided that our house at TCNJ needed a little more furnishing.  Since we are poor college kids and have wasted all our money on alcohol and the Wendy’s dollar menu we decided to enter into the world of  “Junk Picking.”  If your hometown has a cleanup, or if you are allowed to dispose of large items at a specified time of the month you know what we mean.  When you have all your trash out on the front lawn ready for the town to collect it, you will always receive visits from crazy nuts like ourselves looking to take your “trash” before it is collected and disposed of.  Now when I was younger, I found this event truly amusing.  I waited by the window to see who would take my discarded GI Joe or large stupid looking stuffed animal I won on the boardwalk.  Well years later SteveO and I have ventured into this whole new realm of life that I never thought I would experience.  Now we are the ones being laughed at by little kids in their bedroom window.  I took the junk pickers for granted and thought their life was a joke, well never again will I look at them in the same light. 

Breakdown of  Adventure:

Method of Attack:  In order to save some of our sanity we decided to wait until the night time hours for our mission.  We will use true hit and run tactics since we are a little embarrassed of the fact that we are excited about other people’s trash. 

Location of take down: Linden, NJ  exit 136 of the GSP.

Resources used: one flashlight and a camera that ran out of batteries..damnit.

Transportation:  SteveO's 1995 Sea green Ford Windstar van

At 10pm we jumped into the Sea green getaway van and started our search for new treasure.  We felt like commanders ready for an intense hit and run mission.  I could see the suspense in SteveO's eyes as we rolled across the Clark border into Linden and changed our music from Mandy Moore to 50 cent.  This was new territory and we had a lot of ground to cover.  I gripped my flashlight tight as we rolled down the streets full of junk pickers.  There were a few beads of sweat running down my forehead.  Thankfully I used to call Linden home and knew some side streets for a fast escape. 

At first we had no set goal which proved to be a fatal error later in the night.  The first couple of junk piles we came across had nothing but…well…junk.  A few minutes later we came across our first find of the night.  I shined my flashlight on a really awesome folding/reclining plastic chair that now sits in the corner of our basement.  You might even sit on it at our next party

As you can see by the look in my eyes we were very pumped about loading up the van with our first piece of junk.  It was definitely a pro find and I hoped to continue our lucky streak.

After passing other vans full of junk pickers we rolled to our next stop and picked up a small plastic corner table that we wondered why anyone would ever want to throw out.  SteveO quickly loaded the table into the van as I guarded our pile from any other junk pickers that might enter the area.  We learned that this culture was very territorial and it was wrong for two groups to pick from the same pile at once.  If a car was on the side of the road with its flashers on you better keep moving..they claimed that pile

SteveO with our latest find.  A 17^th century Victorian plastic corner table.  Very eye appealing and seems to me like it can hold a good 30 cans of beer on the surface.  Truly amazing work

As we continued on our adventure I became a little more relaxed.  There was a sense that SteveO and I were assimilating into the culture of the pickers.  We were receiving less death stares and nasty looks from fellow Junk Pickers which I took as a good sign.  I could feel the comradery as we all had the same mission in mind.  Later in the night we found our best two items.  I large couch with cushions and a really awesome coffee table that now resides in our living room.  After realizing that the couch was pretty damn big we had to re-organize all our junk in the middle of the road in order for it all to fit in the van.  It was a very embarrassing moment and I never felt greener in my life.  All the veteran pickers were driving past us and I could see the laughter in their eyes as they mumbled “gringo.”

Is it a power tool, old video game, or just some big piece of shit?  SteveO is going to find out..The suspense is amazing…it’s like Christmas in July!

I have to say the entire experience was truly humbling.  We did pick up a few plastic chairs, a plastic coffee table, larger table, wooden coffee table, couch, and some cool lamp.  Everything was cleaned and now resides at our house at TCNJ..mainly for the use of parties in the basement.  I’ve learned that I was very naïve when it came to understanding the culture.  The night becomes alive during junk picking.  the Dark streets are filled with old vans and trucks with flashlights drawn.  They know exactly what they are looking for and they take no prisoners.  If they are searching through a trash pile you do not join in on the same pile..its only respect.  The junk pickers seemed to disappear into the night as quickly as they first arrived.  They all went back with their treasures and dreamed of the next junk pick.  SteveO and I were happy with our finds and will probably never junk pick again..truly a lifetime experience

SteveO excited about all our pro finds