I am simultaneously facinated, horrified and ANGERED by the 'junkers', It's 'spring clean up' time in our fair city. It's where people clean out all the crap they've stored for a year and THROW IT TO THE CURB.
This, in turn, brings out the Junkers.
They drive up and down the streets....picking through the trash people have left at the curb. They man-handle it, feel it, and take what they want.
Why does this horrify and anger me? It's MY STUFF. Yes, I may be throwing it away, but it's in MY yard and if I want the stuff back, I can go to the curb and retrieve it. And honestly, what do people do with used MATTRESSES and the like? I understand the used furniture....I do. But what if the former owner's cat peed all over it? Then you take it home and GUESS WHAT? Cat pee for you!! Someone took our old weber-esque (cheap) round charcoal grill. It had no legs, was rusted and the top handle was askew.
What?? What do people want with that kind of stuff?
I just came back from the grocery store (oh...where son #1 was FIRED from....), and came to a 4 way stop. There was a large truck with an old rusty cattle trailer hooked to it. I thought to myself "hmmm, I wonder what's up with that??", then I realized that they were JUNKIN'. They were a little scary looking. Sort of "Deliverance" like. Lots of long facial hair.....hats.....Then the passenger politely gave a nod as they drove by. Wasn't that sweet? He nearly tipped his hat!!
Anyway, the reason I'm facinated with this is what if these people are some of those people that only spend like $500 a year.......other than that they fend for themselves. They re face used stuff and use it or sell it or BUILD A HOUSE FROM IT?
My mom is a junker. She likes to find stuff---I'm not. I even saw a retro chair in front of a house, and didn't even check it out to see if it smelled of cat pee, or was in working order. I did think about that chair for a couple of days, but I was true to myself and didn't send my Husband out to look at it!!
Yes, son #1 got fired from his job. How mortifying. I'd practically begged them to hire him, and within 10 days, he was out. I have to hang my head in shame when I go over there.
Oh, and the spaghetti dinner was fine. The boys were cute serving the food. The food was actually quite gross----school cafeteria quality. Blech. Not that it wasn't for a good cause....I'm not judging....but I personally didn't care for the spaghetti (there, is that a little more politically correct??)
Well, I"m off to put groceries away.
happy Junkin to all of you who enjoy that.....I think....
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4 comments:
10 days? What the hell, Son #1?
Sorry about Son #1 and being fired. I watched a friend of mine get fired once - he'd worked at Kroger forever. It was a series of bad decisions on his part that lead to it, but I still felt badly for him.
As for the junkin, people used to do that a lot in Memphis - they probably still do. One lady told me she collected stuff to sell in her store - no cost of good sold equals much higher profits I guess. It made me a bit nervous to shop in those second-hand shops though - who knows what kind of crud is on the stuff people put on the curb?? (don't worry, I still shop at thrift stores and such when I can)
The bottom line is... you didn't get him the job and you didn't get him fired. You may have INFLUENCED the getting of the job but I'm pretty confident that you didn't cause the losing of the job.
And now, at the NEXT interview, he's going to have to explain to someone why/how he lost a job in 10 days.
I'd be willing to bet that THAT will be more of an education than anything he's learned about life thusfar.
As for "junking"... I know that some of the nicer neighborhoods up north of here put some darn fine swag out at the curb & it is common practice to put leftover lawn sale stuff at the curb with a "FREE" sign after the sale. I prefer Freecycle, though.
I second what Dingo said.
Also, somebody took our old grill that was in similar condition to yours. WHY?
It's TRASH. That's why we threw it out. DUH!
I don't understand the trash pickers with the possible exception being if they're looking for copper or some sort of metal they can cash in for recycling. I'm cool with that.
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