Garbage sorters in HK isn't a sight I've 100% gotten used to. It is extremely common (somewhere around 1 every 2KM you walk - and those are just the ones you catch actually at a garbage). They are mostly after cardboard from what I've seen - or maybe that's just what they find the most of.
As a general rule, they are all old and don't look particularly healthy. But they are hard working. I feel equal measures of shame and pride in humanity when I see one. It's actually an emotional experience for me for some weird reason.
I wish I knew more about them. What they earn, how long they work, how the system works (they seem to have local drop off centers which all have floor scales - so it must be paid by weight, and then it gets shipped off from there by god knows who).
I saw these people too. Some times I used to pre-sort my garbage so they could easily pick up the stuff they wanted -cardboard and containers from the building dumpster.
An observation was that they seemed dedicated and hard working. It kind of changed my way of looking at how people deal with limited opportunities. In TW destitute people are just hard working. I was very impressed by that. They find something to do --just something. I didn't see alcohol or drug abuse. I didn't see resentment toward people who were better off.
It seemed like a more practical approach without psychological overlays. I don't think it was accepted as fate, rather it seemed like a calculus of "this is what I can do, it's hard, but I can eke out a living without depending on someone/something"
Beside that, it was kind of weird coming up on them in the middle of the night pushing their carts in the middle of traffic. That part seemed really dangerous.
When I came back to the States, this experience skewed my view of how I perceive people at the fringes in the US who seem more likely to give up on their circumstance. It just seems more self-destructive without having to be.
I've seen them too... on the one hand maybe they don't look as "healthy" as a Calvin Klein model. On the other hand, especially when watching the older ones -- they sure have kept their mobility and muscles in a working condition throughout the years doing what they do and they make me think of the majority of old folks back home whose bodies are often deteriorating and falling apart from NOT getting any physical exercise, from spending hours in front of the telly for years and from feeding themselves pure toxic junk food for decades. Well... it's a big world out there.
I've had the same thoughts. It's impressive to spend time in Asia and see how active the elderly are. However, I'm not sure this type of "be active or don't eat" activity is socially progressive (which is the part that shames me).
I also disagree that they are "mobile" and "muscled". Most have obvious joint/bone problems. I'm really not sure that this type/level of physical labor is any better than the exact opposite of no physical labor.
What is inspiring though is that these people will do it because they have to. No shame, no pride.
As a general rule, they are all old and don't look particularly healthy. But they are hard working. I feel equal measures of shame and pride in humanity when I see one. It's actually an emotional experience for me for some weird reason.
I wish I knew more about them. What they earn, how long they work, how the system works (they seem to have local drop off centers which all have floor scales - so it must be paid by weight, and then it gets shipped off from there by god knows who).