You know...every once in awhile, it's nice to spread a little sunshine and make someones day.
Take this ancient, well worn Ikea reclining chair and footrest. I bought it when I was still single. It served its purpose well. But I've had it for way too long and I've more than gotten my moneys worth out of it. I couldn't take this mismatched eyesore in the living room anymore. So Mrs Des and I finally went down and bought a reclining chair that actually matched the sofa and loveseat.
But now what to do with this old thing? I don't really have anywhere else to put it. I didn't need it and its still functional and intact if somewhat worn. I didn't want to just toss it.
I offered it to all my neighbors and friends but no takers.
So out came the Trump Card. I figured I'd haul it out to the curb and someone would take it.
But I've learned one thing about this tactic. If you want something to disappear, it does no good to just leave it there nor put a "free" sign on it. It will sit there forever or until the city picks it up...after citing you...if you do. There has to be an element of "value"...of "scoring" something. Hence the "for sale" sign.
So I put a badly hand written "For Sale" sign on it written on a sheet of printer paper with a black Sharpie. This also allowed me to claim in the highly unlikely event the City wanted to hassle me about it. It wasn't *technically* abandoned nor littering. After all, it had a "for sale" sign on it. I have atrocious penmanship. So gosh darn it....not MY fault that no one could quite discern the contact info.
Out to the corner it went in the afternoon. Right after sunset, I took a walk over. Sure enough...it was gone!
"Awe shucks...someone stole my chair".
What I didn't count on was...the call I got from the neighbor whose house was closest to where I left it.
Apparently a youngish guy came to them thinking THEY were offering it for sale. He offered them the $20 for it.
Fortunately, they already knew what I was doing...and told him to just take it, although I apologized for the unexpected visitor to their door. The only unforeseen twist in this was that someone was actually honest enough to offer to pay for it, even though they could've easily purloined it via the back of their truck; which frankly...was exactly the desired result as far as I was concerned. So all around everyone was happy. I got rid of that old piece of furniture....the young man that showed up was thrilled cuz he got it for free. And I'm refreshed to know that there's still a few honest people left in the world.
Take this ancient, well worn Ikea reclining chair and footrest. I bought it when I was still single. It served its purpose well. But I've had it for way too long and I've more than gotten my moneys worth out of it. I couldn't take this mismatched eyesore in the living room anymore. So Mrs Des and I finally went down and bought a reclining chair that actually matched the sofa and loveseat.
But now what to do with this old thing? I don't really have anywhere else to put it. I didn't need it and its still functional and intact if somewhat worn. I didn't want to just toss it.
I offered it to all my neighbors and friends but no takers.
So out came the Trump Card. I figured I'd haul it out to the curb and someone would take it.
But I've learned one thing about this tactic. If you want something to disappear, it does no good to just leave it there nor put a "free" sign on it. It will sit there forever or until the city picks it up...after citing you...if you do. There has to be an element of "value"...of "scoring" something. Hence the "for sale" sign.
So I put a badly hand written "For Sale" sign on it written on a sheet of printer paper with a black Sharpie. This also allowed me to claim in the highly unlikely event the City wanted to hassle me about it. It wasn't *technically* abandoned nor littering. After all, it had a "for sale" sign on it. I have atrocious penmanship. So gosh darn it....not MY fault that no one could quite discern the contact info.
Out to the corner it went in the afternoon. Right after sunset, I took a walk over. Sure enough...it was gone!
"Awe shucks...someone stole my chair".
What I didn't count on was...the call I got from the neighbor whose house was closest to where I left it.
Apparently a youngish guy came to them thinking THEY were offering it for sale. He offered them the $20 for it.
Fortunately, they already knew what I was doing...and told him to just take it, although I apologized for the unexpected visitor to their door. The only unforeseen twist in this was that someone was actually honest enough to offer to pay for it, even though they could've easily purloined it via the back of their truck; which frankly...was exactly the desired result as far as I was concerned. So all around everyone was happy. I got rid of that old piece of furniture....the young man that showed up was thrilled cuz he got it for free. And I'm refreshed to know that there's still a few honest people left in the world.
