Goodbye, Junk!

We sorted and re-sorted and debated and hemmed and hawed, and finally we made a finished DONATE PILE. Then it sat in the garage for a couple months until I finally called a local thrift store that does pick-ups. Then we waited two weeks for the big day to arrive.

We got up at the crack of dawn to put it all outside and tape signs on the items and boxes. The picker-uppers could arrive at any time between 7:30AM and 5:00PM. How convenient!

At the last minute, an old bicycle was begrudgingly added to the pile after much consternation. Possibly it could have been altered and made into some sort of single-speed cruiser. But it would still be too small and it would still be a third bike for only two people. BUT again, it was much beloved and had been expensive when purchased 15 years ago. HOWEVER, it would probably never be ridden again, and it's not that easy to store bicycles. ON THE OTHER HAND, he loved it.

Well, I was able to watch the pick-up through the window when the doods showed up at about 10:00AM. They parked their giant truck in the parking lot behind our place, rather than pulling into the alley. So they had to take everything over a curb, and down a small hill to get it to the truck. They insisted on carrying two items at a time, which was unfortunate.

For one thing, DOOD #1 totally dropped the box that contained a perfect, complete coffee service set. All the pieces were wrapped in newspaper, but that couldn't protect them from a harsh fall, a tumble down the hill, and then being thrown back into the box. I had never used the set, but had I known that DOOD #1 would break 1/4 of the pieces on the way to the truck, I probably would have held on to it and pretended that some day I would have people over and serve them coffee by pouring the coffee from the brewing pot into the serving pot, and pouring milk from the plastic jug into the little milk pitcher, and filling the sugar bowl from the sugar bag that's inside a ziploc bag. AND serving little cups of coffee upon matching saucers. Yeah, right.

Poor DOOD #1 was trying to carry that coffee service box along with a dismantled CD rack, which is very tricky to move around and really requires 2 - 6 hands.

Next, DOOD #1 grabbed a heavy box full of books AND the microwave oven at the same time. I have to admit that I was and still am slightly aghast that he carried the microwave BY THE CORD! Oh my God! You never, ever, EVER carry an appliance by the cord! That was a perfectly good microwave, and CLEAN! And it had a glass plate in the bottom, on which to sit your food item so that it could rotate around and heat evenly. That glass plate is probably broken now, but I guess that doesn't matter if the electric cord was ripped out of the thing.

Finally, DOOD #2 carried some over-the-door shoe racks and the beloved bicycle at the same time, but tripping over the curb on his way down the hill must have pissed him off, and he literally threw the bike into the truck, right on top of all our breakable donatables. Poor bikey.

So, I know that it was all stuff that we didn't want (excepting maybe the bike, kinda sorta), and it doesn't matter what happens to it as long as it's gone. But part of being able to let go of it was the belief that someone would get some use out of it, and that it could maybe help some people. If I ever try to purge again, I will have to forget about this experience. Half the stuff you donate just gets ruined by the employees! Imagine what happens at the Great Sorting Warehouse!

I guess the other reason I was so surprised was that the lady on the phone who set up the pick-up for me GRILLED me about the condition of the donation items. Are they clean? Does everything work? Would you give them to someone you know?

She's probably wondering why half the stuff they get is broken and the other half needs to be re-wired. Why do all the bikes look like they got thrown into a truck? At least the over-the-door shoe racks seemed to be intact -- some thrift store customer out there must have some shoes that need organizing.