Now as October rolls around, I’m getting used to living on my own. My roommate and I now do all our own grocery shopping, make our own meals (when we’re both home), do our chores with more diligence, and finance our own way.

That last one’s a bit tricky when you have monthly bills to take care of. However, with the help of a close family, we received a little gas money last week–but not without some work. I’d asked the family if I could take their accumulated bottles away for them a few weeks previous, knowing it would be a win-win situation for both. So my roommate and I piled four large recycling bags into her car and to the bottle depot on Sunday, determined to get our money’s worth–and free up the space they’d taken up outside our door.

As we sorted through a variety of bottles and cans in the parking lot, a commotion had broken out in the next lot, drawing attention from all sides. Four police cars had a person surrounded beside a recycling bin, the whole works included: arms out, deer-in-headlights look, and firearms raised.

I tried not to look as the police arrested the person and took notes of the situation, but as many know, it’s human nature to be overly curious, so there were others besides myself that weren’t being so discreet about their curiosity.

Now, I’m not sure what the kafuffle was about exactly, but I could surmise that it had something to do with a homeless person scrounging up for their own survival. I thought about how much they must have to go through, chosen lifestyle or not, on a daily basis to live as they do.

Then I remembered why I was there, complaining about having to handle sticky bottles and strange substances. My friend and I were just there to get some gas money, and maybe sushi if we felt so indulgent; these other people were doing it because there wasn’t much else they could count on.

At work, a few days beforehand, a co-worker had come up with a solution to get rid of the bottles. “If you don’t want to bother with all that work, then just put them up on your road,” she suggested. Mind, she lives in a completely different neighbourhood, so it was her first idea. “I do it all the time, and I don’t have to wait ten minutes before those recycling bags have disappeared.”

I thought about what she said, and what exactly would happen if I listened to the suggestion. And then, after seeing the arrest by the bottle depot, I was grateful that I could drive to the building, and that, no matter my trivial complaints, I could actually afford that winter coat for the cold season.

So I guess that next time I’m getting anxious about finances and “Will I have enough for that new sweater I want?” begins to roll around in my thoughts, I’ll try to look on the sunny side of the street and feel fortunate for what I do have.