Greed
I don’t know why, but I’m always a little shocked at what people will ask for on my Freecycle list. If you don’t know what Freecycle is, it’s an international network of people, “who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people).” Basically there’s mailing lists broken down to regional areas all over the world and
When you want to find a new home for something — whether it’s a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door — you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of the local Freecycle group.
Or, maybe you’re looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member’s offer, and you just might get it. After that, it’s up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure.
Here’s the thing, there’s a lot of people on my local Freecycle group that send e-mails asking for stuff. You know, they start with “WANTED: ” in the subject line rather than “OFFER: ” or “TAKEN: “. To me this is just a tiny bit greedy. It wouldn’t even really bother me if there weren’t a lot of those kinds of posts and if they were all for the most part practical somehow.
You know, I thought it was interesting when some teachers posted on the list looking for various items for projects for their classes. One teacher was looking for vinyl records for her class, for example — not something you can just go to WAL-Mart for. It just so happened that I was getting rid of mine right then so I had no problem helping out.
But people ask for cars and boats on the list at least every few months. I mean, whole cars. Working ones.
And I’m not the only one moving apparently, there have been several posts in the last two weeks by several people stating that they have just moved into their first homes and have nothing and need everything including beds, sofas, kitchenware, etc. Lots of people asking for beds, computers, paintball equipment, musical instruments, Pokemon cards, video games, clothes, cat supplies, fish tank…
Look I get that you’re looking for a way to save money by searching for the things you want on Freecycle, but I just think it’s impolite and rude and greedy to post that you want people, strangers, stuff for free. It reminds me of the time my cousin came to my house when she was about 5 years old and she went around telling me how much she liked all of my toys with this expectant look on her face like she thought I was going to just offer to give her the things she liked because she said she liked them.
Here’s the whole point of Freecycle, people clean out their attics, their basements, their extra rooms, whatever, and they don’t want to just throw their old stuff on the curb (or they live somewhere like my new community where there are actually rules about that and no garbage pick up); they’d rather their old, loved, used things go to new homes where new people, albeit strangers, might love their old, used things just as much. I mean, that’s why I put my things on the Freecycle list — and I’ve gotten rid of everything from a computer desk to a recliner to a computer monitor to a shower radio.
Freecycle isn’t supposed to be where you go to act greedy. Especially if you have enough money to buy a house. I mean, o.k. I’m keeping an eye on the “OFFER” messages for someone who’s parting with a kitchen table because I’ve never had a kitchen big enough to have a table in it, but I’m not begging for one. I mean, I can afford to buy a house. If I miss the offer and someone else gets it, I have to believe it’s because that person needed it more and I can afford to go to WAL-Mart or Target and buy a cheap-ass kitchen table to use until I can afford a better one. I’m certainly not going to beg strangers for one.
I don’t even like asking my own family for stuff.
