In which I don’t take it home, even though it’s free
Posted by Isabel on October 15th, 2008. Filed under: City Living.Seen on the sidewalk in a suburb of Seattle:
I don’t care how cheap it is, I’m not taking it. That being said, it’s no longer there. This means either someone is loving their new (free!) toilet or the original owner just threw the damn thing away.
Either way, it’s not sitting out on the sidewalk. And that, my friend, is a good thing for my neighborhood.
So tell me, what’s the craziest thing you’ve seen on the street of your neighborhood. And does anything really beat a free toilet?
October 15th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I don’t know why the idea of reusing somone’s old crapper totally grosses me out (hello, public bathrooms?) but it does. I should just be happy that they’re recycling though!
In my town, I walk my dogs past a house that has the following things in front of it (on the porch and on the lawn): stacks of newspapers, a bench, a grill, and…piles of various other garbage. I can’t even think of it all right now because it’s such an effing disaster. Clearly the people who live there are not right in the head. I dream of sneaking over there in the middle of the night and taking all of it to the dump. Their neighbors would probably thank me, don’t you think? That is, if they found out it was me. Which they would because I’d show up in the police blotter. Hmmm…
October 15th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
This is going to sound terrible, but if I saw that on the street I would’ve taken it. I work with the elderly and even though those things look funny, they’re necessary and…EXPENSIVE! I would’ve sanitized it and then donated it to the elderly. Am I nasty, or what? I can’t blame you for not wanting it on the dang sidewalk, though! Tacky! One time, I left my ginromous big screen on the street for someone to take. I figured someone would take it right away but it was actually taken apart by a bunch of kids and they used it to play with. Go figure.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Wow-this brought back memories! When I was in college, my boyfriend’s brother actually bought one of those things at a yard sale to be a “conversation piece” in his dorm. Turns out after a long night of partying, it came in very handy when the bathroom was a little too far (eek!).
He still had it when the boyfriend and I broke up, so I don’t know whatever happened to it.
Although I wouldn’t take a potty chair, in New England where I grew up, leaving things by the road was an early version of Craigslist’s “free” section. I once left a set of shelves by the driveway that got picked up before I made it back into my house. And my brother picked up a distressed maple desk that he refinished and still owns 30 years later. I haven’t seen stuff by the road out here unless it’s junk for the junk truck.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Our town does a twice-yearly big-trash pick-up. (<-Hypen much?)
Anyway, there are all kinds of random things people put out by the curb, and a lot of it is taken before the trash trucks even come by. My friend brought over a car hood, we put it by the curb, and that disappeared in about an hour. Someone probably took it for scrap metal.
I’ve seen toilets, bath vanities, old TVs, bbq grills. Someone took the lid from my MIL’s grill but left the rest.
I admit to driving through the neighborhood a little slower, scoping out the stuff. You never know – one man’s trash is another’s treasure.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
You are a stronger woman than I, Isabel.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Hmmm, a used toilet – for free? Maybe it made its way to a homeless camp? Maybe? I cant’ say I’ve ever seen anything that crazy on the streets of my neighborhood…..but you better believe I’m going to keep my eye out!