As I was walking home tonight I saw a couple things that were a bit disturbing. First, upon passing the grocery store which apparently had just gotten in their new batch of food, I saw one of the dumpsters turned on its side and about seven what appeared to be south american men frantically searching inside for food. All the surrounding dumpsters were upright but with countless hoards of what seemed to be south americans (most likely a mix of legal and illegal immigrants). I happened to pass about the same time a week ago, I'm guessing, or a few days or something and saw something similar. I crossed the street to see the homeless man who lives on the corner and just about anytime of day is seen sitting on a cardboard box drinking beer and chanting (obviously in spanish), "a little money for a sandwich." The picture was pretty intense. This man is asking for money, while across the street, less than 75km away there is a plethora of food being dug out of dumpsters by poor immigrants who are trying to just get by. Now granted I know that this man's problem is not really his needing food, but still. A bit fuerte.
It seems that recently I have been struck by the stark contrasts living side-by-side and also those here verses those in other places.
Note: It was interesting that as I looked for a picture to put here, I found several sites dedicated to dumpster diving. In fact one group in Toronto puts on a free dinner on the street on a semi-regular basis all made from their findings in dumpsters. They take others' waste/ trash, find what is salvageable and use it to feed people. And they had pictures and lists of their findings (which were pretty large quantities). It makes you think a bit.
