Although I have Colleen's number and see her sporadically on weekends and some weekdays, she's harder to be in touch with than one might think. In all honesty, it's been a frustrating last couple of weeks. While I have not been able to get in touch with her via phone, I have run into her enough times to schedule days to go collect cans on three different weekends. However, when plans change and all parties don't have cell phones, one person gets left sitting on the porch... alone... at six in the morning... Halloween morning.
Sorry for the dramaticism. Getting up early for the past three weekends and curling up with a blanket on my porch while the rest of the city has just gone to sleep has been fairly interesting. The day after Halloween in Athens at 6 am is a peaceful site, the only activity being a few people cleaning up some stray pieces of trash. I would bet that I'm one of the few people who have ever seen Athens at this hour the day after Halloween. And while I'm looking on the bright side, I've certainly gotten better at using the night scene setting on my camera.
One of the other three weekends I waited for Colleen, I observed a few of the other can collectors, one of them being a couple who drives up North Congress past my house every weekend. According to the article, they collect more than 150 pounds of aluminum earning $85-100 per week. It's odd though, because I know Colleen always get my cans and my neighbors cans so I wonder from where exactly they collect the majority of the cans.
6 comments:
Looks like you have two of the same link...is there a different link to info about the couple? It would be interesting to compile all the news coverage that's been given to the can people (that sounds weird)
Yep, I put one link in twice. I'll fix that today. Thanks!
This sounds really like a never ending story. Did you already tell Colleen, why you want to accompany her on her walks? Is she probably concerned about the coverage and that people might judge her for can collection?
While reading your blog, I got the impression, that this might be a problem. But very interesting to read...
I can't wait to meet Colleen and get a sense of her style, her tactics during can collecting, and what makes her happy. I'm guessing she has a favorite stop, or maybe two or three. Have you set up a time to go around with her? You've been tenacious in tracking her down, it has been interesting hearing about that aspect of the story.
Transparency City!
I think Shamus said it all, you live in a city filled with aluminum cans called Transparency City. :)
This was a great idea from the start, and it shows you're a good reporter to think up these ways to get to the can collectors.
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