Free Stuff
Drive-by shopping. Two stories in exactly 50 words each.
Two true stories about junk and the nature of humankind. 50 words.
One Man’s Trash
He sets the old stools out by the curb. Someone will want these, he thinks, and I won’t have to haul them off.
He puts a sign on them: FREE STOOLS. Two days later the stools are still there. He makes a new sign: STOOLS $10.00 ea. Someone steals them.
Another Man’s Treasure
He cleans out the garage and holds a six-hour yard sale. At the end of the long day, two boxes of vintage guy-stuff remain. He moves the boxes to the curb.
He goes inside and makes a sign: FREE STUFF. When he goes back out, the boxes are already gone.
The first one is a hoot. The second is so true.
We have an active curb service here on the border. Scavengers from our neighboring city in Mexico pass by regularly in their old pickups and vans looking for discards to resell. They perform a valuable service.
I have a quick story to share. My neighbor at the time found a usable garage door opener out on the curb and installed it in his garage. A few years later, he converted his garage into a family room and gave the door opener to me. I'm still using that third-hand, discarded garage door opener twenty-five years later!
I have those tools. Exactly. My dad’s and I’ll never give them up…. there’s a use for them somewhere, some day.