Hobo In The Dumpster

You know, a couple of months ago Bryce and I were convinced that there was a homeless person who took refuge in the dumpster behind our apartment at night. There were many reasons we believed there was a hobo in the dumpster. The first being that we heard strange sounds coming from behind our apartment at night. Now, Bryce's work schedule is a little different. During school he's working part time as a package handler at UPS. For this job Bryce goes into work anywhere between 3 and 4 in the morning and he returns after 8 am. So, Bryce leaves for work pretty much in the middle of the night and he noticed that whenever he left for work the dumpster lid would be closed (probably for protection from the cold; although I don't know anyone who would be able to survive the smell) and when he returned from work the lid would once again be open. Bryce also reported that he heard strange sounds coming from the dumpster on these early morning commutes.

Bryce wasn't the only one hearing strange noises, though. One morning after Bryce had left for work and I had gone back to sleep, I was awoken by what sounded like someone whisking something in our kitchen. I was frightened by the sound, but I was also half asleep. Soon the sound passed and there was no homeless man standing at the foot of my bed with pancakes (or any other delicious breakfast food that would require a whisk) so I thought I was ok and I went back to sleep. When Bryce came home I told him about the noise I had heard, and how it had sounded like someone was in our home, or at least right outside our bedroom window. When I had gotten out of bed that morning though, I checked all the doors and everything was locked and safe. We were both a little freaked out by what had happened. We decided to wait it out and see if we heard anything like it again.

A few days later we realized that the sound was actually those garbage cans on wheels rolling in the gravel that is our "backyard." It seems as though our neighbor woke up nice and early to take the trash out on that one creepy night.

So now whenever we hear one of our neighbors rolling their garbage can out to the front we joke about the hobo whisking past our window. Now that the weather has heated up, though, I am proud to report that we no longer hear strange sounds coming from the dumpster and I am pretty sure that the homeless man found himself a nicer place to stay. Thankfully.