Dumpster Diving

Now that Spring is here (sort of - it snowed on Sunday but it melted and there is green) the pre-teens are out roaming the streets of Granby. They move, like elephants, from the skate park to the library (computer use, bathrooms, water) to the Town Hall (candy) to the Verizon store (fudge) to La Guaracita (ice cream cones) to the bakery (more water) and then repeat however many times they can before their parents track them down (they do not answer their cell phones.)

Yesterday in the library four kids (Bubba, Trent, Jose and Garrett) got into a fight over a bag of Doritos. As the story evolved, Bubba got the chips first and although Trent and Jose were there, he touched them first. Garrett entered the dilemma later - I think he was just hoping to get some Doritos and doesn't usually hang out with this particular group of kids. I asked each kid the story and naturally each story was different as to who saw the chips first. But the commonality was that they got it out of a dumpster. I said, "You're fighting over a bag of chips you got out of a dumpster?"
"Yeah, the dumpster at City Market"
"There's a dumpster at City Market and you found a bag of chips in it that you're fighting over?"
"No, not just one bag, I mean there was one bag now, but usually there's a bunch of bags."
"What are you guys talking about?"
"The Chip Dumpster."
"It has a name?"
"Yeah," and they all exchanged eye-rolling looks.

I asked Ian about this tonight at dinner. He said "Yeah, the Chip Dumpster."
"What in the heck is the Chip Dumpster?"
"It's where the grocery store dumps all the chips that explode in the bags when they come over the pass."
(I probably need to explain something here - when you start at 5,000 feet, or Denver, and come up over 14,000 feet, Berthoud Pass, and then into Granby, 8,500 feet, things explode, like basketballs....don't ask me how I know this)
"So who knows about this?"
"Everybody  (more eye rolling.)"
"I don't know about it," I replied.
"Neither do I," Mike chimed in.
"Well anyway," completely exasperated with us by now," you can go down to the dumpster and get chips."
"Are they good?" I asked.
Ian shrugged, "Sure."
(Why am I asking a 14 year old if something tastes good...seriously.)

I guess all the kids in Granby and probably some parents, know about the Chip Dumpster. I tried to explain to Ian that he could get arrested for this and it's disgusting and he said he doubted it because when he and Conner were there this weekend the guy that was dumping the chips just gave them the full box of bags of chips and told them to throw the box away when they were done and not leave garbage in the parking lot.

My consolation is that one day this will be a good story to tell his kids and that I will probably miss a town like Granby where it's considered entirely appropriate to go dumpster diving.