

	Wow, this thing weighs 50 pounds when it's empty.

lise funderburg

And the winner is ...

We asked you to send in "rides" that related to our show with Lise Funderburg. Many of you sent in your stories about successful thrifting and dumpster diving, about gospel music and the Whosoever Gospel Thrift and Mission. The votes are in and here's the winner! Anne from Arizona tells the story of a very successful ...

Dumpster Dive

This is the story of my favorite shoes right now. They're a pair of black pleather, thick-soled sandals, size 6 1/2. They don't fit and give me blood blisters. But I wear them everyday because I can't get over the fact that I found them in a dumpster.

Every year when the university gets out, I head for the dumpsters around campus. Students get wasteful after finals when they just want to get the hell out of town. They throw out all sorts of good stuff: laundry detergent, shampoo, clothes..everything that can't fit into their car and mom and dad can replace once they get home. Over the three years I've been doing this, I've learned a few things. 1)Go early because you are not the only one with a brilliant idea. 2) Some dumpsters are better than others. People is sororities and fraternities are the most wasteful. Dumpster diving is the only time when I really appreciate Kappas, Tri-Delts and Gamma Gammas. It's the only time when if I stepped outside myself, I would hate me. I recycle. Recyclers' trash sucks. Back to the story.

I went out the sorority dorms close to my boyfriend's house. I must have looked a little bit funny. I was filling up my 1993 Ford Explorer. The girl's dumpster had all kinds of useful things. I won't have to by any feminine hygiene products for the rest of the summer.

Technically, the shoes weren't really in the dumpster. They were perched on the side of it. Some Kappa Delta probably figured she was "doing the right thing" and giving her shoes to someone in need. She was right. I always need new shoes. So I took them. They weren't worn and looked brand new. I felt so lucky! When I put them on, they were a bit tight but hey...they..were...free!

So now I suffer. The shoes are a badge of my stinginess. I show them off to anyone who will listen. "Look what I got out of a dumpster!" It adds grittiness to my personality. It gives me street cred with my punk rock friends. I also like to keep people guessing. She roots through trash AND drives an S-U-V? What a contradiction, but as my boyfriend says, "I don't trust anything that makes sense."

I love my new free shoes. They hide my blisters.