Why Playing Cards in a Dumpster Changed My Life

On this episode of Our American Stories, Our American Stories regular contributor and listener, Paul Kotz, shares the story of what happened when hopped into a dumpster with a homeless man to play cards with him.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
from the arts to sports, and from business to history
and everything in between, including your story. Send them to
our American Stories dot com. There's some of our favorites.
And today we bring you a story from one of
our listeners in the Twin Cities. We love telling you

(00:32):
stories of redemption. And Paul Kotts wrote the book on it. Well.
He wrote a book Something Happened Today, a collection of
the unexpected. The book was initially conceived by Kotts's desire
to leave something inspiring for his daughters to read. The
title is a suggestion to look for a miracle every day,

(00:54):
and he's drawn from personal experience. Here's Paul.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Years ago, I was working at a center for the
homeless in Kansas City. Each day we would receive donations
from local markets and donors to feed one hundred and
twenty plus people in a place called the Family House.
On a beautiful sunny Tuesday morning, a man yelled at

(01:25):
me from across the street. Hey you, it was my
turn to wash windows at the Family Center. I would
put the soapy water in the bucket fill and rinse
it out and use a squeegee to make the windows glisten.
I turned around and there was this guy waving at

(01:45):
me from the dumpster in plain sight. He had a
salt and pepper colored beard and emotion for me to
come over. I dropped my cleaning supplies and ventured across
the street to see the man. Got the time, he asked.
I gave him the time, and he told me his

(02:05):
name was Joe. Do you smoke, he asked no. I
thought back to my dad, who had an air of
confidence when he puffed away many times, driving his Thunderbird
convertible top down and listening to his fifties and sixties music.
In this case, Joe was smoking a Marlborough with deep puffs,

(02:28):
exhaling through his nose with a purpose. His expression didn't change,
but his wrinkles around the eyes exuded wear and tear,
as well as his ability to smile. I have to
make sure I get my stuff out of here before
they throw me away, too, he laughed. I realized and

(02:48):
fully understood what he was saying. Each Tuesday morning, early
the trash compactor would come and hoist the industrial still
dumpster into the air and empty the garbage and refuse
from the past week. I thought about what we'd take
for granted in our great country and how this type

(03:09):
of life still exists. He went on to let me
know a culinary tip too. He mentioned that he could
not stand cauliflower. In addition to cleaning assignments at the shelter,
we would venture to the downtown markets to catch some
of the produce vendors throwing out strawberries, potatoes, onions that

(03:31):
dreaded cauliflower, and heads of lettuce with first signs of spoiling.
A Christian brother named Lewis explained to us as workers
that ten percent that is the top of the crate
may be spoiled, but if cleared away, ninety percent of
it is beautiful fruits and vegetables. We waste a lot

(03:52):
of food around here, he told me. While store owners
and shopkeepers were not always fond of us intercepting the
crates before they were tossed in the trash, but many
let us know the best times to stop by to
pick up the edible food before it made its way there.
I noticed in the dumpster he had a rickety blanket,

(04:14):
two small kid sized chairs, and a makeshift table. One
week I watched him do it. The restaurant bar would
throw empty bottles and trash and fill the dumpster most
of the way, but Joe would time it perfectly, waiting
for the trash truck to pick up the refuse, and

(04:35):
then he proceeded to put his chairs and table back
in for another week's worth of living. Want to play
some cards, he asked me. I was kind of mesmerized
by this man who seemed to just go about his
business of living the streets so effortlessly. But this was
a home to him, a place of comfort, protection, and

(05:00):
possible peril if he forgot to wake up on a Tuesday. Yeah.
Once I had a close call, but people check on
me to make sure I get out in time. He
hopped back in, arranged the chairs and table, and then
so did I. We played part of a game of

(05:20):
cribbage with pegs of popcorn kernels. You want a banana,
he asked me. He pulled out what seemed like a
fresh fruit, unpeeled it, and we each had a half.
Here is this guy who barely had a place to live,
sharing what he had with me, his new card playing buddy.

(05:43):
It was early most of my colleagues were still asleep
that morning, and I'm thinking to myself, why am I
in a dumpster? I eventually returned to my window cleaning assignment.
Some of your thinking, I will never have lunch or
coffee with me again, and make sure I wash my hands.

(06:03):
But for me, this was a moment of grace in
my life, a wake up call and awakening to another
world that I never knew nor previously wanted to see.
I thought about what I would do if this were me,
and how I would cope. Would I be playing cribbage,

(06:23):
possibly drinking to avoid the pain, or maybe dead because
I didn't have the stamina or the resourcefulness of Joe.
I will never forget that man's generosity, who offered his
temporary home, part of his sustenance, a game to play,
his creative adaptation of life, and his daily appreciation of

(06:49):
the moment.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
And you've been listening to Paul Kott's and what a
terrific story about grace and about well learning to see
what's unseen. And by the way, I love that he's
written this book to inspire his daughters, because there's so
little around to read to our kids that inspires them,
and they're yearning for it and they're desperate for it.

(07:12):
We all are, and that's what we try and do.
On our American Stories, Paul Cott's story and in the end,
Joe's story too. Here on our American Stories. Here are
to our American Stories. We bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith,

(07:33):
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
need to be told that we can't do it without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love our stories in America
like we do, please go to our American Stories dot
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a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.

(07:54):
That's our American Stories dot Com.