Dumbass Sayings: “One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure”

Treasures as far as the eye can see!

Usually when someone says “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” it’s your girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend trying to insult her and you at the same time. In that way, it’s a rather effective saying. However, if you take this literally it’s not so valid. For instance, I sincerely doubt my used tissues are anyone’s treasure. Even when you think about a homeless man finding an unfinished meal in a garbage can, that’s not a “treasure” for the guy. It’s food. You can want someone’s discarded items, but you don’t usually “treasure” the stuff. Treasure is treasure. No one throws a chest of gold coins in the garbage. A more truthful saying would be “A rich man’s trash is a poor man’s treasure” because the amount of treasure in your trash really declines as your income goes down. A homeless person’s trash is a treasure to absolutely no one.

Basically this saying is more like another way of saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” meaning “Just because you think this is bad doesn’t mean someone else does”. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a much more versatile saying than “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” so there’s no need for both. All the latter does is encourage children to go dumpster diving which is all fun and games until someone pricks themselves with a bent HIV covered heroin syringe. I sincerely doubt that’s anyone’s treasure.