Homeless Man Who Picked Up Trash In Parking Lot For Years Cashes Out

No one understood why Josh was so obsessed with collecting plastic. But when the people who mocked him over the years learned the truth, they regretted their actions.

Josh Freeman spent the last few years of his life collecting plastic, knowing the reward for all his hard work and suffering would pay out someday. But he never expected to face all the hurdles that were thrown his way. Yet, in the end, he came out on top, and he remembered who helped him along the way.

Josh had spent the last twelve years searching this particular parking lot. When Josh turned 30, he lost his job and relied on the plastic he gathered to bring him through the toughest of times.

People in this small town weren’t the friendliest, and they would rather mock an old homeless man before giving him anything to eat. So, his scavenging often helped him get food when he had none. But Josh’s life wasn’t easy.

That was especially true when it came to the employees who worked at the restaurant that owned the parking lot. The owner was nice enough and allowed Josh to scavenge his property, but the waitresses were a different story.

Over the years, he’d seen them come and go, but not a single one of them treated him like a human. To them, he was scum, and they made sure he knew about it.

The girls would often snicker behind Josh’s back, and their laughter confirmed that one of them had made a snide remark about his clothing or lifestyle. But some of them made no effort to hide the fact that they didn’t like him hanging around their workplace.

They would often speak their minds, and the things they said would shock any person to their core.

They called Josh any name they could think of. But the worst part was that they accused him of being some predator who was just waiting for an opportunity to get one of them alone. However, that wasn’t even close to being true. Yes, Josh did have an ulterior motive, but it had nothing to do with any of them.

It was all about his trash and what he could make out of it.

So Josh just brushed them off. If they knew who he was before he ended up in this position, they would never talk to him like that. In his prime, Josh was a respected man, a soldier who ensured they could enjoy the lifestyles they took for granted.

But he wasn’t going to demand respect from people like that. He’d just do what he was there to do and get on with it.

Every time Josh was mocked or insulted, he’d just remind himself of what he was working for. He had dreams and a goal that he intended to reach. But that wouldn’t happen if he let every rude ‘Suzie’ get to him.

He leaned against a tree and pulled out the picture of the tiny home he wished he owned. “One day, I’ll be living there,” he told himself. And that day wasn’t far off.

Josh put the picture away and continued his work. He had a lot to do in the few weeks that were left because winter in these parts was harsh, and it would come knocking in no time. Winter used to be Josh’s favorite season, but now he hated it. Being homeless meant that he was often exposed to the elements, including the large quantities of snow.

But it also meant that his beloved plastic would be in short supply.

People often focused on hot beverages in the colder months, which meant the only plastic Josh could get his hands on were coffee lids and certain takeaway containers. But there was another part about winter that posed a problem for Josh. Since the town was so small, he was forced to live in the woods that surrounded the place.

As a result, he sometimes struggled to make the trip, as it wasn’t easy to walk through thick layers of fresh snow.

But Josh always tried to get to the city so he could search for his plastic. It was the most important part of his life. Sometimes it was even more important than eating or being warm.

It was the only hope he had, and he wouldn’t give that up for anything. But why would plastic be so important to a homeless person? What value could it possibly hold?

In Josh’s case, it was the key to his future, and he was determined to see it through. For years, he’d tried to get a job. He tried to get off the streets and live the life he always imagined he would have. And this was his way of doing it.

Since no one wanted to give him a chance, he had to do it himself. Because of that, he focused all of his energy on his task, and it seemed like he was doing well. But it was taking a lot longer than he hoped it would.

And then, one day, something happened that caught Josh completely off guard.  He was busy going through the massive trash cans behind the diner when a young woman approached him.

She gave him a sweet smile and offered him a hot beverage. Josh was stunned that the diner’s newest hire was so friendly. He kind of expected her to be like everyone else.

The woman introduced herself as Cara and asked if she could sit with Josh while she was on her lunch break. Josh was still a little stunned, but he agreed to keep the lady company. She did just offer him a coffee, after all, so it would be rude to refuse her request.

The two of them started talking, and before long, Cara pulled out a sandwich and offered the entire thing to Josh. He could hear her stomach rumbling and didn’t want to take her food away, so he politely refused. But she insisted.

Over the next few days, this had become a routine. Cara would spend each of her lunch breaks with Josh, and she would make sure that she always had something delicious for him to eat. Josh appreciated the company but felt really bad about taking her lunch and often insisted they share it.

However, Cara simply told him that she could eat when she got home, whereas he could not.

At first, Josh thought it was just a trick the employees came up with, so they could mock him again. But after about a week, he realized that Cara wasn’t like those girls. She was just a caring young woman who grew up in a bad household, and she didn’t want to see anyone else suffer.

Cara was just trying to do her part. Josh was lucky that he met her when he did because everything was about to change.

One day, while they were sitting together, Cara asked Josh why he was collecting all the plastic. Josh was feeling very protective of his batch and instinctively avoided the subject, but he did tell her that his plastic meant the world to him. Instead of getting irritated, as he thought she would, she laughed and offered to bring him some of the plastic she had at home.

Josh was filled with joy and gladly accepted the offer. But he had no idea that she would go as far as she did.

Over the last few days, Josh had been moving faster, and thanks to Cara’s generous offer, he had more plastic than he ever imagined he would get in such a short amount of time. If things continued the way they had over the last few weeks, it would only be a matter of time before his dreams come true.

But he would never forget the woman who was responsible for that.

One night, Josh sat down and watched the piles of trash bags that were surrounding his makeshift tent. From his estimations, there were quite a few pounds, and that would do a lot. But it still wasn’t enough.

To reach his goal, Josh would need a lot more. If his calculations were correct, another year of collecting would put him exactly where he needed to be.

Josh would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited. Even though it would take another year, he was closer to his goal than ever before, and that was something to be proud of.
He would survive a twelve-month winter if it meant he’d finally be out of the situation he was in.

But that night, something happened that would have Josh wishing he’d given up years ago.

It was the middle of the night, and Josh had been woken up by noises outside. He got up and braced for the cold to see what was going on. But as soon as he looked at his pile of plastic, his heart shattered. It was gone…

At least a third of the plastic he had been collecting over the last few years was stolen.

When Cara arrived at work the next morning, she found Josh sitting on the sidewalk, and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. She ran over to him and asked what had happened. He told her that he had lost his precious plastic.

His hopes and dreams had come crashing down, and he feared that he’d be homeless forever. It was too much for her to handle, and she immediately jumped to work.

Less than a week later, Cara and a bus full of people showed up at Josh’s makeshift tent in the woods. They started unloading a truck that they had brought with them, and Josh just stared at them with big eyes.

That was when Cara explained that she shared Josh’s story online, and all those people agreed to help him collect plastic. They not only replaced what he had lost but also managed to gather a few pounds more.

The joy in his eyes melted Cara’s heart. Even though she never understood why his plastic was so important to him, she could tell that her gesture meant the world to him. Josh gave Cara a big hug and asked what he could do to return the favor. But she didn’t want anything.

Seeing him so happy was more than she ever could’ve asked for. However, Cara underestimated Josh and his precious plastic.

When Cara arrived at work the next morning, she was hoping to see Josh and discuss the support they had gathered online, but he wasn’t there. She thought it was just because she had come so early and kept an eye out for him during the day.

But Josh never showed up that day, and he wasn’t there the next day either.

At first, Cara wasn’t concerned about Josh’s absence, but when the end of the week rolled around, that changed. She hadn’t seen him at all since she dropped off the plastic, and that was starting to concern her.

Cara knew Josh had no obligation to come back to the diner, but something was telling her that there was more to it than him just missing out on a free meal.

Cara could tell that Josh was enjoying her company, and if he didn’t want the food, he’d come back for that. She would’ve done it if the situation had been reversed. She couldn’t just accept that this was happening of his own free will and thought something must’ve happened to him.

So that night, she headed into the forest to find him. She was shocked to find that Josh and his plastic were gone.

Cara barely got any sleep that night, and by the time she got to work the next morning, she was in a terrible mood. So when she heard her colleagues gossiping about her relationship with Josh, she didn’t think twice about fighting back.

At first, she was trying to be polite and asked them to stop their nonsense, but when one of her colleagues asked her why she was standing up for a disgusting homeless man, she bit back.

Cara told all of her colleagues that they were the ones being disgusting because they treated a war hero like he was a piece of trash. The argument raged on, but when Cara decided she had enough of dealing with such ignorant people and walked away, she heard something that sent her over the edge.

A few of her colleagues admitted that they had stolen Josh’s plastic.

At this point, Cara was fuming. She wanted to take revenge on every single person who was working there. But she was stopped when everyone's attention turned to the sleek black Maserati that had just pulled into the parking lot.

What Cara didn’t know was that everyone, including her, were about to get what they had coming to them.

A man stepped out of the car, and Cara’s breath caught in her throat. He fixed his suit and came into the diner. Everyone was fawning over him, but he insisted on being served by Cara.

When she approached, he asked her to sit down, and that’s when it finally hit her. It was Josh, and he had come to offer her a job at his new, upmarket restaurant. The second her coworker heard that she tried to intervene and steal the job. But Josh remembered who treated him well and who didn’t. And he wouldn’t be where he was without Cara’s help.

In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.