I thought you meant G+.

His hobby was totally understandable - given that he grew up in the depression and the purposefulness and value these objects have always been to him.

I thought people collected them for money - scrap metal.

@3 Charles is of course a Marxist and cannot fathom such capitalist frivolity.

@3: Yes, but he saved them.

I slipped a generation. He, like me, was probably influenced by his parents growing up in the depression.

My mentally disabled uncle, who is now elderly and living in a care home, also spent his life collecting cans. He lives in Oregon, where cans can be returned to the store for money, and he supported himself by trading in many of them. But whenever I visited there were always bags and bags of cans in the garage; he knew exactly how many were in each bag. Everyone in the community knew him and so many kind people kept their cans for him to pick up. He took pride in keeping our town streets free of trash. People can live valuable lives in many ways. I too grieve for this family, who lost their loved one.

He was not the most hated man in America.

For 30 seconds he was, seatackled.

Senior citizens often live on a fixed income. If, say, that retirement pension from the foundry is 60% of your highest earnings, and you retire in 1997 with what seems at the time like a reasonable monthly sum of $1,000 (You could get a decent apartment in Tacoma in 1997 for roughly $400, so a grabnd per month would have been sufficient for a single adult living alone), you would find in 2017 that $1,000 a month barely covers the rent, not to mention food and utilities. However, you cannot work to supplement your income when you're 85 years old- nobody is going to hire an 85 year old, especially one that's been out of work for decades. So, you have to supplement your income somehow.

You can collect tin cans, wash them out, and sell them. Some places will pay 5-20 cents per can, and if you manage to fill a shopping cart, that adds up. This is something people on SSI/disability, the elderly surviving on retirement, and the homeless have been doing for at least a century. It doesnt bring in very much money- a day's worth of work gathering cans and cleaning them up may only net you a total of $50-$100- but that's enough to pay the light bill.

@8

Dunno. Even for that 30 seconds, he probably wasn't the most hated man in America.

Did you just assume the Facebook Killer's gender?

@6

I, too, agree with you. Truly a senseless and horrific tragedy.

Nothing to say except that this is a great short piece, Charles.

Heyyyy did you know that some people collect cans to SELL? Now you do, you're welcome!