Metropolis - Embracing Errands

Doing errands is one of those universal obligations, I think. Yet I always feel like the only one who spends so much time on them – buying groceries, planting flower seedlings before they wilt in their plastic pots, going out of the way to pick up my favorite shampoo, or running out to the corner store to buy bananas/toothpaste/paper towels or whatever other last minute item I forgot or didn’t notice that we were out of before I left the house this morning. Errands seem to take up a disproportionate amount of my time, filling up entire weekend days and extending working hours with scurrying to various neighborhoods on my way home to acquire the best chocolate dipped macaroons, or a travel size hand lotion, depending on what the upcoming week has in store for me and my family.

Recently, making my way down a wide avenue crowded with early evening strollers and shoppers, I paused to check what was still left on my day’s errand list. Happy to note that in scheduling my last errand I had skillfully mapped out my route to end up where I could hop on a homeward bound train, I looked up ready to complete my to-dos, and saw a woman running a different kind of errand altogether. She was stopping at each public trash can and searching for empties, which, when found, she put into one of two large black plastic trash bags she was carrying on either end of a long narrow rod across her shoulders. The bags were bulging with cans and other recyclables.

As the woman walked, she held the rod over her shoulders behind her neck with both hands, adjusting to one hand when she stopped to add to her collection. She wore a wide brimmed, plastic straw sun hat, and walked along Houston St. among a hoard of pedestrians, none of whom seemed to take notice of her.

The reality is, there are a number of people in New York City who collect empty bottles and recyclables, particularly the empties that earn a 5¢ deposit when returned to stores in New York and participating states; they use shopping carts or tote bags to carry the recyclables they gather.

But this woman, with her bags on a shoulder pole, was such an anomaly in the culture of this city that I saw her differently. And in seeing her differently in that moment, I saw myself differently. I was vividly reminded how lucky I am to have my errands to run: to be able to gather life-enriching items on my way home, choose from an abundance of flowers and treats to enhance my home, and not have to collect someone else’s discards to get by in the world.

Of course I don’t know this woman’s story, so I can only surmise. Still, I know I will see her image the next time I encounter someone collecting empties, no matter how they are being carried. And the next time I find myself grumbling about squeezing one more errand or chore into my long day, I will be grateful that my errands are part of my life.

Images courtesy of keyool.com-Bag Lady.