@curtw4 it’s like my “collections” of stock pots, cast iron skillets, kitchen knives, cookbooks, audio equipment, antique tools… When does it go from interest to collection to obsession to “hello my name is…”?
@curtw4@ybmuG Across the street from me was an actual hoarder. When she died the family had a dumpster (took 2) to empty out her house. They had given up finding things of hers that they might value because the place was just stacked up with stuff. Actually it was kind of sad to see all these things she valued her entire life being discarded in the dumpster by strangers. I told the crew (they did it on a weekend so I was around) to put things of potential family value to the side (hand made quilts, photos, etc.) and I’d call the family to see if they wanted them. The family was grateful.
@PooltoyWolf Yes it was. She was in a nursing home for the last 7 years of her life and her family came a few times to take a few things out but they were overwhelmed. I had been inside once when I went to board over a window (neighborhood kids had broken it to snoop around) and took a quick look myself - narrow path through each room, most furniture covered in things, bags of stuff neatly stacked along the walls… (not really a garbage kind of hoarding - rather stuff). It would have been overwhelming to deal with.
My approach to overwhelming messes is to stack everything in one place and then deal with the pile. At least everywhere else would be tidy and thus less overwhelming. I would do that with my kid’s room - have her put every single thing out of place on her bed (had a big mountain that would threaten to fall over as that would be just about every single thing she owned) and put things away one by one. She could deal with it then.
@macromeh Yeah, I don’t count Burning Chrome, Count Zero, or Mona Lisa Overdrive in the total. What you don’t see is two more Italian editions (all three have different cover art), and a few more Ace paperback editions.
Languages represented, some have multiple copies:
Chinese
English
English (Braille)
English (graphic novel adaptation)
English (audiobook, abridged, read by W.Gibson)
English (audiobook, unabridged)
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Portuguese (Portugal)
Portuguese (Brasil)
Russian
Serbian
Turkish
Spanish (Spain)
Spanish (Mexico)
Ukrainian
I may stop if I can pick up Polish and Indonesian.
@Kidsandliz@PooltoyWolf The irony is that we are discussing “collecting” (which some may call obsessive or “hoarding” though I find that offensive and usually inaccurate), on an Internet site dedicated to selling us stuff we didn’t need (or at least didn’t know we needed because it’s random everyday*)
*well except half the days will be some sort of headphone or speaker, or a charging device/cable of some sort. So for anyone with over 20 of each of these type of things, yes, that is probably excessive. (me, me!)
I’ve always used dumpster to mean a large trash recepticle that is always in place (like outside a restaurant) and a skip is a temporary one, like on a construction site, or that you might rent when moving house, usually without a lid that gets taken away by a lorry afterwards.
@OnionSoup@Willijs3 I think I can honestly say I’ve never heard people in North America use the word ‘skip’ out of context to describe a garbage container. The same goes for words like ‘flat’, ‘lorry’, and ‘quid’.
@PooltoyWolf@Willijs3 now, flat, I do hear from time to time, in the US. It surprised me first few times because I didn’t think the word was used. Certainly flat is more predominant in UK and apartment in US.
Ive heard both apartment and flat in both countries. In UK apartment is used when the living space is on more than one level. A flat is usually on a single floor. Or sometimes “apartment” is used to make a flat sound fancy or upscale.
Ironically, in the US, apartment is the norm, but I’ve seen the word “flat” used by people trying to make their apartment sound more up market. It’s only expensive apartments that I’ve seen called flats in the US. I think that’s common though, US uses British words or spelling when trying to make something sound more exclusive. The Brits use French words to do same thing. (Which is probably why the word apartment is considered fancy in Britain, since it was originally a French word).
Now, what you never hear in the US is that a flat or apartment is “to let” , it is always “for rent”.
@OnionSoup Dumpster, skip, or roll off – I’ve heard all those terms. Here in the Southeast, its “dumpster,” in the UK, Oz, and Kiwi-land, it’s “skip,” and in Southern California, my relatives say “roll off.”
For those in the know, and Prairie Home Companion fans of a certain age, it’s the [Monback Brothers][1], who help those who can’t make a decision to get rid of stuff.
“…This is Larry Monback of Monback Brothers Trash Hauling. If you keep telling yourself, “One of these days I’m going to sort out this stuff” ----- call for us, we’ll sort it out for you. (TRUCK BACKING) Monback…monback…monback. (CRUNCH) That’s good…”
In my area of the world, we have the Junk King service, who charge you to remove things, but recycle most of it. They also have an interesting [history of the dumpster and synonyms][2] on their website.
@Kidsandliz@OnionSoup@PooltoyWolf@Willijs3 My sister went to England for study abroad one year decades ago, and she still says “amongst” instead of “among.” And we had a friend who grew up in England who sounded American but always referred to the “dustbin” rather than the trash can. I like Briticisms!
@Kyeh@OnionSoup@PooltoyWolf@Willijs3 Hmm I say amongst too (in some sentences and among in others) but my grandmother was an English teacher and my father an English major and so they (and my mom - it was her mom who was the English teacher) were after us about English usage (paid off in college entrance exam scores, but in everyday life none of their kids are as careful as they are/were - as you can see I like clauses within clauses LOL). We discovered if we needed to distract them from the matter at hand just misuse the English language. Lay and lie down, bring and take… those kinds of things drove her nuts. And swear words. OMG an instant distraction for my mom.
@blaineg@OnionSoup@PooltoyWolf@Willijs3 My older sister and her husband used to own a “Dairy take-away” in New Zealand - basically a small neighborhood grocery that also served fish and chips and other fast/finger food. (BTW, best fish and chips ever - my BIL went to the docks every morning and bought the fish fresh off the boats.)
@Kyeh@OnionSoup@PooltoyWolf@Willijs3 I probably remember it because of what he said. He had to list a fault. He said mine was that I had no patience for rules that made no sense and whilst that was a fault he considered it a good fault. LOL Having 3 big ones in mind to change is also how I got elected as president of the graduate students at the big state university I was enrolled in. Got them changed too. And I try, still, to change those kinds of rules. Not always so successful as I was as grad student body president though.
@Kyeh One of the rules was really basic. In disputes between a faculty member and a grad student the grad student was automatically considered guilty until proven otherwise however undergrads were presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Umm OK. That was a problem.
The dean of the grad school though deserves a lot of the credit because had he not backed what I was doing it would have been a lot harder to get the graduate counsel (faculty) and then the faculty senate to approve the changes.
I joke that I come from a long, honorable line of boat rockers.
@Kyeh While I was working on a 130’, one ton tall ship I took the dory out for a sail. OMG I had forgotten those things might actually tip over. Gotta be far more attentive and careful sailing a rowboat than a 100 ton ship with a weighted keel to keel it upright. It felt like I was sailing/playing with a bathtub toy LOL
@Kidsandliz@Kyeh
Isn’t that the truth. I had a blood clot on my brain which caused a stroke (thankfully I was at the hospital when it happened) but for a long time my brain was impacted by it. I went on a massive spending spree (not even buying anything useful, just crap. I wish I had a new wardrobe or shoes to show for it) but I’ve already had 3 garage sales, donated at LEAST 250 of shit and still have more stuff. It makes me sick to think about the money I wasted buying all that shit.
@Kyeh@Star2236 When I helped my mom downsize she was too stressed out with my sister’s approach. Max 5 seconds to answer which box does this go in (eg donate, throw out, give to family…). The approach I took was to hear why she bought that to begin with, the story with what she had planned to do with it (long stories with some of the fabrics - some decades old), anything else she needed to say and then and only then could she decide. She was far less stressed out. Took way longer but much easier on her. Also made me realize I needed to start now (eg back then) to get rid of things. Still have too much for where I live, but I did use it all when I lived in a somewhat bigger space the year before last when I had that temp job and it was nice to still have those things. Got rid of/sold a lot of things. Wouldn’t have filled a dumpster but there still was a lot.
@Kidsandliz@Star2236 Oh, wow! I’m sorry to hear that, how scary, I hope you’re fully recovered from the stroke. But how strange that it caused you to do that - pressure in the impulse-control part of the brain I guess?
I’m not sure what explains my accumulation of stuff - it’s been a lengthy process.
@Kyeh@Star2236 It is often easier just to put things aside when you have something new, your tastes change, etc. than get rid of it. Plus I know I keep things as “back up just in case” (reinforced by using some of those just in case things).
I know it was easier to get rid of things if I knew someone really needed the things I was getting rid of (I hate to “waste” things). For example at the height of chemo and the aftermath I was seriously underweight and finally had to break down and buy some clothes. I got rid of those clothes last year when someone at the animal shelter had been living in the battered woman’s shelter, had almost nothing and those clothes fit her. Yes I will have to buy more clothes if I ever get that underweight again, but in the meantime I don’t have them taking up space I need for other things and it wasn’t nearly as hard to part with the stuff because I knew the clothes were going to a good home.
@Kidsandliz@Kyeh
And that’s another problem no where in my area is taking donations right now bc of Covid so I have I no where to take stuff and I feel bad throwing it in the dumpster if someone can use it. Even all the curbside places for clothes are overflowing. I live in a apartment and don’t have the room to store boxes so it just sits a huge mess of stuff I need to go through.
@Kyeh@Star2236 The homeless tend to dig through whatever is left outside (or behind) donation centers.
Or if you have a friend in a house see if you can leave the stuff open on his/her curb. Stuff tends to vanish that way prior to the trash being picked up.
Or find out where a family HUD housing complex is and leave the things on the sidewalk there. Back earlier when we were more locked down than we are now and all donation centers were closed (we have more cases now, second in the nation for cases per capita, so please explain to me why we are still open almost everywhere???!!!) I took a pile of stuff and left it on the sidewalk by the parking lot. Some kids helped me unload and others ran home to tell family. Before I even left the parking lot it was all taken. Those folks usually have very little and things will be passed around until everything finds a home.
@Kidsandliz@Kyeh
I live out in the suburbs and we don’t have a lot of homeless out here, mainly all in the city and I wouldn’t even know where to take it or if it would be safe where their at (Detroit is my main city). Also all our donation centers have you take stuff inside to drop off bc of our seasons, so I can’t even leave it outside for people to scavenge through. The news here has done stories about about people dropping off stuff “unauthorized” and they said it’s all getting trashed bc they don’t know where it comes from. It’s really shitty if your trying to donate stuff right now. I’ve tried places like Purple Heart and other organization that pick up stuff and they won’t even do it right now bc their overloaded too. I was really thinking of setting up a bunch of tables on a nice weekend at my moms house (my apartment complex won’t let do stuff like that) and putting adds that say free just to get rid of it all.
@Kidsandliz@Star2236 That’s a good idea, to set up the tables! Do you have that “Nextdoor” network where you live? People post a lot of free stuff on there; also there’s probably a Craigslist you could post it on.
I’m planning to do that with some stuff, just haven’t gotten to it yet.
@Kidsandliz@Kyeh@Star2236 I’ve done craigslist “curb alerts” several times. Stuff usually doesn’t last more than a couple hours. I always feel better knowing it’s going to someone who wants/needs/can use it vs. a landfill.
Fun to come to the site and find this post right after shelving my 32nd copy of the same book…
@curtw4 Eager to hear the backstory on this. Very impressive collecting in any case!
@curtw4 Hey! At least one of those says Count Zero on the spine! (Alas, I have but one copy of each, and also of Burning Chrome.)
@curtw4 it’s like my “collections” of stock pots, cast iron skillets, kitchen knives, cookbooks, audio equipment, antique tools… When does it go from interest to collection to obsession to “hello my name is…”?
@curtw4 @ybmuG Across the street from me was an actual hoarder. When she died the family had a dumpster (took 2) to empty out her house. They had given up finding things of hers that they might value because the place was just stacked up with stuff. Actually it was kind of sad to see all these things she valued her entire life being discarded in the dumpster by strangers. I told the crew (they did it on a weekend so I was around) to put things of potential family value to the side (hand made quilts, photos, etc.) and I’d call the family to see if they wanted them. The family was grateful.
@curtw4
Nice personal library!
@curtw4 @Kidsandliz @ybmuG That is really sad.
@pmarin Not much of a story. I liked it when it came out. A friend brought me back the Japanese one from a trip, and I was off to the races.
@PooltoyWolf Yes it was. She was in a nursing home for the last 7 years of her life and her family came a few times to take a few things out but they were overwhelmed. I had been inside once when I went to board over a window (neighborhood kids had broken it to snoop around) and took a quick look myself - narrow path through each room, most furniture covered in things, bags of stuff neatly stacked along the walls… (not really a garbage kind of hoarding - rather stuff). It would have been overwhelming to deal with.
My approach to overwhelming messes is to stack everything in one place and then deal with the pile. At least everywhere else would be tidy and thus less overwhelming. I would do that with my kid’s room - have her put every single thing out of place on her bed (had a big mountain that would threaten to fall over as that would be just about every single thing she owned) and put things away one by one. She could deal with it then.
@macromeh Yeah, I don’t count Burning Chrome, Count Zero, or Mona Lisa Overdrive in the total. What you don’t see is two more Italian editions (all three have different cover art), and a few more Ace paperback editions.
Languages represented, some have multiple copies:
Chinese
English
English (Braille)
English (graphic novel adaptation)
English (audiobook, abridged, read by W.Gibson)
English (audiobook, unabridged)
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Portuguese (Portugal)
Portuguese (Brasil)
Russian
Serbian
Turkish
Spanish (Spain)
Spanish (Mexico)
Ukrainian
I may stop if I can pick up Polish and Indonesian.
@Kidsandliz It makes me wonder what will happen to my stuff when I leave!
@curtw4 @ybmuG Not yet. You need to check out what everybody has been donating to thrift stores this summer.
@Kidsandliz @PooltoyWolf The irony is that we are discussing “collecting” (which some may call obsessive or “hoarding” though I find that offensive and usually inaccurate), on an Internet site dedicated to selling us stuff we didn’t need (or at least didn’t know we needed because it’s random everyday*)
*well except half the days will be some sort of headphone or speaker, or a charging device/cable of some sort. So for anyone with over 20 of each of these type of things, yes, that is probably excessive. (me, me!)
@curtw4 @OldCatLady
We’ve also dropped off 8(!) loads to the local Goodwill.
It actual feels good, until I think about the fact that we had all that stuff in our house
@curtw4 i was going to offer to send a Japanese edition, but I see you’ve already got one.
“White Trash”
heh heh
@therealjrn I have to admit, that put them over the top…
@therealjrn Came here to mention that! I’m surprised they got away with it LMAO
@PooltoyWolf @therealjrn their last name is White. They have had multiple businesses all with their name.
@PooltoyWolf @therealjrn @ybmuG A guy at work makes custom knives on the side, his business name is White Boy Knives.
I never buy anything anymore. I’m not sure why I come here. The fun people I guess.
@Fuzzalini that’s reason enough!
Looks like you’ve made enough room for plenty more crap
@spitfire6006006
Noooooooooooooooooo!
But probably yes…
Cool. When is Meh selling skips? I could do with one.
@OnionSoup Skips?
@Willijs3
/image trash skip
@OnionSoup I’ve never heard them called that. They’ve always been dumpsters in my world.
/image dumpster
@OnionSoup @Willijs3 I believe it’s a British term
@PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 … That’s possible…
I’ve always used dumpster to mean a large trash recepticle that is always in place (like outside a restaurant) and a skip is a temporary one, like on a construction site, or that you might rent when moving house, usually without a lid that gets taken away by a lorry afterwards.
@OnionSoup @Willijs3 I think I can honestly say I’ve never heard people in North America use the word ‘skip’ out of context to describe a garbage container. The same goes for words like ‘flat’, ‘lorry’, and ‘quid’.
@PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 now, flat, I do hear from time to time, in the US. It surprised me first few times because I didn’t think the word was used. Certainly flat is more predominant in UK and apartment in US.
Ive heard both apartment and flat in both countries. In UK apartment is used when the living space is on more than one level. A flat is usually on a single floor. Or sometimes “apartment” is used to make a flat sound fancy or upscale.
Ironically, in the US, apartment is the norm, but I’ve seen the word “flat” used by people trying to make their apartment sound more up market. It’s only expensive apartments that I’ve seen called flats in the US. I think that’s common though, US uses British words or spelling when trying to make something sound more exclusive. The Brits use French words to do same thing. (Which is probably why the word apartment is considered fancy in Britain, since it was originally a French word).
Now, what you never hear in the US is that a flat or apartment is “to let” , it is always “for rent”.
@OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 You are reminding me of all the “new” words I learned when I lived in England and Scotland.
@OnionSoup Dumpster, skip, or roll off – I’ve heard all those terms. Here in the Southeast, its “dumpster,” in the UK, Oz, and Kiwi-land, it’s “skip,” and in Southern California, my relatives say “roll off.”
For those in the know, and Prairie Home Companion fans of a certain age, it’s the
[Monback Brothers][1]
, who help those who can’t make a decision to get rid of stuff.“…This is Larry Monback of Monback Brothers Trash Hauling. If you keep telling yourself, “One of these days I’m going to sort out this stuff” ----- call for us, we’ll sort it out for you. (TRUCK BACKING) Monback…monback…monback. (CRUNCH) That’s good…”
In my area of the world, we have the Junk King service, who charge you to remove things, but recycle most of it. They also have an interesting
[history of the dumpster and synonyms][2]
on their website.@Jackinga @OnionSoup here it’s 1-800-GOT-JUNK. “Just point, and we make it disappear!”
@Kidsandliz @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 My sister went to England for study abroad one year decades ago, and she still says “amongst” instead of “among.” And we had a friend who grew up in England who sounded American but always referred to the “dustbin” rather than the trash can. I like Briticisms!
@OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 How about “Take Away” food?
@OnionSoup Are they selling the pickup service too? Not much use without that.
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 Hmm I say amongst too (in some sentences and among in others) but my grandmother was an English teacher and my father an English major and so they (and my mom - it was her mom who was the English teacher) were after us about English usage (paid off in college entrance exam scores, but in everyday life none of their kids are as careful as they are/were - as you can see I like clauses within clauses LOL). We discovered if we needed to distract them from the matter at hand just misuse the English language. Lay and lie down, bring and take… those kinds of things drove her nuts. And swear words. OMG an instant distraction for my mom.
@OnionSoup Actually, I hired Pitney Bowes to cart off my junk, which may have something to do with it still all being here. Ya think?
@Jackinga @OnionSoup
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 what was going on? That run on sentence. I can’t remember what I was reading
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @unksol @Willijs3 HEHEHEHE I don’t practice what my parents and grandparent preached unless I have to (grin).
@OnionSoup
Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let 50 cents
@blaineg @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 My older sister and her husband used to own a “Dairy take-away” in New Zealand - basically a small neighborhood grocery that also served fish and chips and other fast/finger food. (BTW, best fish and chips ever - my BIL went to the docks every morning and bought the fish fresh off the boats.)
@blaineg @macromeh @OnionSoup @Willijs3 That sounds amazing and delicious!
@macromeh So do you live in New Zealand too or are from there?
@Kidsandliz @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 Oh, bruther - I should have said that the word my sister still uses is “whilst.” Much more distinctively British.
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 Now whilst is not one I use, but my PhD advisor did. He even used that word in the reference he wrote me.
@Kidsandliz @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 Hah - it must have made an impression since you still remember that!
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 I probably remember it because of what he said. He had to list a fault. He said mine was that I had no patience for rules that made no sense and whilst that was a fault he considered it a good fault. LOL Having 3 big ones in mind to change is also how I got elected as president of the graduate students at the big state university I was enrolled in. Got them changed too. And I try, still, to change those kinds of rules. Not always so successful as I was as grad student body president though.
@Kidsandliz Born in NZ (to American parents), we moved to US when I was 5. My older sister married while there and stayed.
@Kidsandliz @OnionSoup @PooltoyWolf @Willijs3 Well, that is memorable, for sure! congrats on getting those rules changed, we need more of that.
@Kyeh One of the rules was really basic. In disputes between a faculty member and a grad student the grad student was automatically considered guilty until proven otherwise however undergrads were presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Umm OK. That was a problem.
The dean of the grad school though deserves a lot of the credit because had he not backed what I was doing it would have been a lot harder to get the graduate counsel (faculty) and then the faculty senate to approve the changes.
I joke that I come from a long, honorable line of boat rockers.
@Kidsandliz That definitely needed to be changed, wow. A boat-rocker, eh? Even on those tall ships?
@Kyeh While I was working on a 130’, one ton tall ship I took the dory out for a sail. OMG I had forgotten those things might actually tip over. Gotta be far more attentive and careful sailing a rowboat than a 100 ton ship with a weighted keel to keel it upright. It felt like I was sailing/playing with a bathtub toy LOL
@Kidsandliz Yikes!
Welcome to our asylum.
/giphy asylum
Enjoy!
I need the dumpster when their done lol
@Star2236 Me too.
@Kyeh I was thinking you were done (eg cat portion of that one thread).
@Kidsandliz No, I still have too much stuff.
@Kyeh It’s hard to downsize.
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh
Isn’t that the truth. I had a blood clot on my brain which caused a stroke (thankfully I was at the hospital when it happened) but for a long time my brain was impacted by it. I went on a massive spending spree (not even buying anything useful, just crap. I wish I had a new wardrobe or shoes to show for it) but I’ve already had 3 garage sales, donated at LEAST 250 of shit and still have more stuff. It makes me sick to think about the money I wasted buying all that shit.
@Kyeh @Star2236 When I helped my mom downsize she was too stressed out with my sister’s approach. Max 5 seconds to answer which box does this go in (eg donate, throw out, give to family…). The approach I took was to hear why she bought that to begin with, the story with what she had planned to do with it (long stories with some of the fabrics - some decades old), anything else she needed to say and then and only then could she decide. She was far less stressed out. Took way longer but much easier on her. Also made me realize I needed to start now (eg back then) to get rid of things. Still have too much for where I live, but I did use it all when I lived in a somewhat bigger space the year before last when I had that temp job and it was nice to still have those things. Got rid of/sold a lot of things. Wouldn’t have filled a dumpster but there still was a lot.
@Kidsandliz @Star2236 Oh, wow! I’m sorry to hear that, how scary, I hope you’re fully recovered from the stroke. But how strange that it caused you to do that - pressure in the impulse-control part of the brain I guess?
I’m not sure what explains my accumulation of stuff - it’s been a lengthy process.
@Kidsandliz @Star2236 K&L, that’s nice you were able to do that with her. Pressure from someone else to go fast definitely doesn’t help.
@Kyeh @Star2236 It is often easier just to put things aside when you have something new, your tastes change, etc. than get rid of it. Plus I know I keep things as “back up just in case” (reinforced by using some of those just in case things).
I know it was easier to get rid of things if I knew someone really needed the things I was getting rid of (I hate to “waste” things). For example at the height of chemo and the aftermath I was seriously underweight and finally had to break down and buy some clothes. I got rid of those clothes last year when someone at the animal shelter had been living in the battered woman’s shelter, had almost nothing and those clothes fit her. Yes I will have to buy more clothes if I ever get that underweight again, but in the meantime I don’t have them taking up space I need for other things and it wasn’t nearly as hard to part with the stuff because I knew the clothes were going to a good home.
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh
And that’s another problem no where in my area is taking donations right now bc of Covid so I have I no where to take stuff and I feel bad throwing it in the dumpster if someone can use it. Even all the curbside places for clothes are overflowing. I live in a apartment and don’t have the room to store boxes so it just sits a huge mess of stuff I need to go through.
@Kidsandliz @Star2236 Oh, that’s a shame. Thrift stores here are allowing drop-offs again, thank goodness.
@Kyeh @Star2236 The homeless tend to dig through whatever is left outside (or behind) donation centers.
Or if you have a friend in a house see if you can leave the stuff open on his/her curb. Stuff tends to vanish that way prior to the trash being picked up.
Or find out where a family HUD housing complex is and leave the things on the sidewalk there. Back earlier when we were more locked down than we are now and all donation centers were closed (we have more cases now, second in the nation for cases per capita, so please explain to me why we are still open almost everywhere???!!!) I took a pile of stuff and left it on the sidewalk by the parking lot. Some kids helped me unload and others ran home to tell family. Before I even left the parking lot it was all taken. Those folks usually have very little and things will be passed around until everything finds a home.
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh
I live out in the suburbs and we don’t have a lot of homeless out here, mainly all in the city and I wouldn’t even know where to take it or if it would be safe where their at (Detroit is my main city). Also all our donation centers have you take stuff inside to drop off bc of our seasons, so I can’t even leave it outside for people to scavenge through. The news here has done stories about about people dropping off stuff “unauthorized” and they said it’s all getting trashed bc they don’t know where it comes from. It’s really shitty if your trying to donate stuff right now. I’ve tried places like Purple Heart and other organization that pick up stuff and they won’t even do it right now bc their overloaded too. I was really thinking of setting up a bunch of tables on a nice weekend at my moms house (my apartment complex won’t let do stuff like that) and putting adds that say free just to get rid of it all.
@Kidsandliz @Star2236 That’s a good idea, to set up the tables! Do you have that “Nextdoor” network where you live? People post a lot of free stuff on there; also there’s probably a Craigslist you could post it on.
I’m planning to do that with some stuff, just haven’t gotten to it yet.
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @Star2236 I’ve done craigslist “curb alerts” several times. Stuff usually doesn’t last more than a couple hours. I always feel better knowing it’s going to someone who wants/needs/can use it vs. a landfill.