Ralph the Trash Man drove his old truck around town picking up everyone's trash and bringing it to the landfill.  He had been doing this for so long, no one could remember when he didn't.
    People didn't think very highly of Ralph.  Whenever they saw him, he was always dirty and smelly.  He was an immigrant from some Eastern European country and didn't speak much English.  They didn't even know his last name.  He was just "Ralph, the trash man".  He was not someone who got invited to parties.
    Ralph lived in a small, old house on the outskirts of town.  He kept it reasonably neat on the outside.  No one but Ralph had ever seen the inside.
    Ralph may not have been well educated, but he wasn't stupid.  He knew the value of things.  Especially, the things that people often throw out when they get too old, or are no longer fashionable.  He carefully checked the trash he picked up every week.  Over the years, he had developed a good eye for spotting valuable items.
    He sometimes found antiques, rare coins, first edition comics and unusual toys.  On one occasion, he found a real gold chain that had been thrown out with a batch of costume jewelry.  Over time he found many valuable items in the trash.  Some he sold.  Some he kept.  
    Despite his station in life, Ralph was also blessed with a positive attitude which probably helped him stay healthy and have a long life.  When he died at age eighty-nine the town finally found out, much to their surprise, what was in Ralph's house.
    Instead of the piles of worthless junk that they expected, they found a clean, well furnished home with lots of antiques and a large bookcase with many old and rare books.  On the walls were original artworks, some by local artists who were now well known, but were just starting out when these early works were thrown away.  He also left a stock portfolio worth almost fifty thousand.  
    In all, Ralph's estate was valued at over $220,000.  He had no relatives that he knew of, so he left it all to the county animal shelter where he got the cats and dogs that had been his only friends for the last few decades.