Hoping I did the right thing

(repost from myspace)

hoping I did the right thing

Current mood:hopeful

First let me tell you that my (detached) garage is off the ally behind my house. I was pulling up to my garage tonight and after hitting the opener, noticed someone going through my trash. The older man looked up kinda startled and I noticed he had a wagon with cans in it. I rolled down my window and asked if he was collecting can. He looked like he was expecting me to yell and seemed grateful that I didn't.

I told him our recycling bin disappeared and I have a bag of cans in my house that I didn't want to throw away. So I asked if he could hang on a moment. I parked in my garage and then leaving the garage door open, walked into my house. The kitchen is right off the back door, so I came back very quickly with the Kroger's bag full of crushed cans.

I handed him the cans and he thanked me. I started chatting with him, asking how often he came by and he said usually twice a week. I told him that we'll start leaving the cans on my fence for him to pick up. He thanked me again and explained that he does this to supplement the social security that he and his wife live on. I was about to walk away, but turned and asked what his name was.

Frank. He and his wife live in a duplex almost across from my house. Their son lives on the other side of the duplex. He then told me that a neighbor a block down caught him looking for cans and yelled at him to stop going through his trash. He seemed hurt by this. The guy probably didn't realize this man was a neighbor, someone who's trying to provide for his wife. Part of me wanted to go down and talk to that neighbor and explain.

Besides, it's very suspect that our recycling actually gets recycled. By giving our cans to Frank, they're definitely getting recycled and he's making a bit of money for it. Nothing but good can come from this. Right?

Part of me worried that maybe I shared too much with this man. After all, I'm still living alone and Jason will be living 15 minutes away. (For another 6 weeks.) I said "our" and "we" but if he lives just across the street, he knows I'm alone a lot. Is he a safe person? Maybe he made up the whole story to get sympathy. Part of me wondered if he smelled of alcohol. Did I do the right thing?

I then did the craziest thing I've done in awhile. I actually dug through my trash and got the cans out that I had thrown away because my recycling bag was over flowing. I filled another half a Kroger's bag. I want to believe the best about my neighbors. I have to to feel safe.