Junk

Last month some new tenants moved into the building. A day or so later, a plastic tub appeared at the bottom of the staircase filled with an eclectic mix of household items. Some electrical outlet covers, a pot holder, some assorted glassware. Junk. There was a sign taped to it that said "Free".

Simply for my own amusement, I decided to add some junk of my own just to see what would happen. So every day for the last week or so, I brought down contributions to the free junk. Unexpectedly, I got fascinated by what would be taken and what wouldn't. So I started bringing different things down to the pile, really without any rhyme or reason. I just wanted to see what they would take and guess why.

Early on, I brought down a pair of black Rumplemintz shotglasses. I was surprised they weren't snatched right away. It was several days before they had been obviously inspected and put back. It was several more days before somebody succumbed to the allure and took them away.

Curiously, nobody took the partially empty cans of blue and silver Krylon spray paint. Ditto the partially used wood stain. And while the partially used box of caulk weather strip didn't go, the sealed bag of foam weather strip finally did.

Surprisingly, a new sealed deck of playing cards went in hours. As an experiment, I put out another deck of cards this afternoon. They were gone by tonight. Another big hit was a half full box of No. 2 pencils.

Resoundingly rejected were the coffee mugs. One had a NYC skyscraper design, the other was from Paris. It had a Mona Lisa on the side. Obviously, I didn't buy either one. It took almost 2 weeks, but somebody finally made off with the little can of Budweiser split. I pray they didn't actually drink it it's over 3 years old. And every day, no matter what I bring down, I keep seeing that my forlorn and sad little can of Del Monte mixed vegetables remains untouched and unloved.

Today I branched out. In addition to the 2nd deck of cards, I brought down a touch button telephone. I felt I had no choice. This afternoon someone added a surfboard (!) and tonight, a map of the world paperweight.

In summation, nobody wants partially used hardware supplies nor canned vegetables. And everybody wants a deck of cards.