How sad is it that I, we, expect the worst? I was doing homework in my common room when I looked out the window to see someone rummaging through the dumpsters. I could not determine what on Earth they were doing. Why do they need to throw their trash to the very bottom? I wondered. At first, I thought they were taking out their trash, but then I realized they were digging to the bottom of the dumpster, as if looking for something. Immediately, I thought they were hiding something - weapons. They were wearing dark clothes: Navy sweatpants, black hoodie, and brown jacket. Their hood was up so I couldn't see their face. I was genuinely getting worried and thought, should I take photos? Should I take a video in case the police need to identify this person? Thoughts like this race through my head constantly. I am always thinking, how can I help if something goes wrong? or what did I just see? Is everything ok? After a minute of blankly staring and my mind racing, I saw the person take cans and thought they were taking full cans of beer someone had left for them. And then I wondered why someone would want beer that was hidden with trash, but then again this is college and people are desperate. But then the person moved to another dumpster and just took an entire bag out. They returned to the other dumpster and opened one of the big trash bags. The person began to throw cans they found into another bag - and then it hit me.

This person is, smartly, taking the empty cans from the weekend to cash them in! At this point I had also noticed they were wearing gloves. I realized the gloves were to keep clean, not to cover up finger prints. I was stunned to see this. I immediately went from thinking this person is a criminal to oh I feel terrible. How sad they have to scrape for money and dig through the dumpster. Thinking about it now, I have no idea what their situation is. Maybe they are affluent and just want some easy pocket change. Maybe they really do need the money. I have no idea, and will never know, but the point is just that. Here I am, judging this person I've never met, entirely removed from the situation, trying to figure out what this person was doing.

We are all sharing this world, and have to respect one another. We can't possibly know and understand everyone and everyone's situation. The best thing we can do is stay positive. Be kind to one another, because you never know what someone is feeling or how their day has been. More than that, why not be nice to someone? Only good can come from it, so there should not have to be a reason to smile or ask someone how their day is. Go make a positive difference today.