Summary

“The Third Dumpster” by Gish Jen tells the story of Morehouse and Goodwin Lee, two brothers who buy a cheap house for their parents to live in. Their parents find it hard to live in their current apartment because of their old age, but they refuse to go to a retirement home because they are Chinese and find American culture too different from their own. In particular, they don’t want to eat American food.

The two sons look for a dumpster where they can throw away the debris left after they are done renovating the house. Goodwin scouts the area and finds a suitable dumpster, while Morehouse hires two illegal workers and starts the renovation. Goodwin is against the hiring of illegal workers, especially after he is informed by his brother that there is asbestos that needs to be rem...