Lots of possible blog topics this week. I could write about the idiot Boston Marathon bombers, or the idiot U.S. Senators that can't even bring themselves to vote on, much less pass, any form of new gun control legislation.
Instead, I choose to write about an annual rite of passage that occurred in my suburb this week, known as Spring Cleanup week.
Spring Cleanup is the one week every year that residents can put just about any kind or size of garbage on their curbside to be picked up. Most residents do just that, throwing out appliances, electronics, lumber, etc.
Over the years, Spring Cleanup week has become a city-wide free garage sale. Once residents start putting their stuff on the curb, soon there will be a lot of unidentified vehicle traffic circling the neighborhood. Rough-looking strangers will emerge from their muffler-less pickups, swarming to curbsides in an attempt to be the first to drive away with treasures that can only be found in one man's garbage.
For the most part, these are benevolent strangers, who vary from for-profit scrap metal recyclers to your basic lower-class garage sale flippers. And they will take virtually anything of value, even if it's old and/or damaged.
There is one problem, however, with their etiquette related to leaving things as they found them. If I put a pile of junk near my curb, I don't want people rummaging through it and spreading my neat pile into a messy pile.
It may be junk, but let's keep it neat, people.
No comments:
Post a Comment