Freecycle Fun

Have you ever heard of freecycle? It’s a website where you can give stuff away to people, or pick up free things from others who want to get rid of stuff. It's like a garage sale that's free. Cool, huh?

I used to belong to a local group when we lived in Maryland a few years ago, and sometimes got some nice things. Plus it’s good to be able to give something you don’t need to someone who does need it.

Since we moved to Hawaii I hadn’t gotten back on freecycle, but recently I had some things to get rid of and decided to join a group here.

Well, I don’t know if it’s a sign that the economy has really gone down a lot recently, or what, but the quality of the things posted on freecycle here has really gone downhill.

Let me just give you some examples of stuff folks are offering to give away today (and this is just TODAY, by the way!):

OFFER: Various items:
All of this stuff has been sitting in a box untouched for over a year, and my cats made it their bed, so all of this stuff has dust and cat hair on it to varying degrees, depending on where it was in the pile. But, you can wash it off.
-A tiny black nylon handbag that says "be unique, be beautiful, be you" on it.
-Unused dental kit for a dog
-A photography book of signs by Walker Evans called "Signs"
-A healthy eating cook book
-Free the Jena 6 T-shirt
-Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery T-shirt
-A movie poster for the movie "Good Hair"

(WOW. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Exactly HOW I’m supposed to wash a year’s worth of cat hair off a MOVIE POSTER I can’t imagine!)

OFFER: Crappy parts of Male Vampire costume. I offered this before, but never heard back from the person who wanted it. it consists of a cheap wig, and medallion to wear around your neck. It's from Walmart.

(Don’t try to sell it so much there honey.)

OFFER: A black money belt that I just bought recently. I tried it out with a single dollar bill, and not only was that all that will fit in it, but it was hard to get out, and ended up tearing...so use at your own risk. It makes a fine normal belt though.

(Again with the extreme sales skills. It just sounds SO tempting…)

OFFER: Black Kittens 2 boys, 2 girls (possibly the mama also)

(Wonder why she wants to get rid of the whole kitten-producing apparatus?)

OFFER: HP Photosmart C4280 All-in-one printer, scanner, copier
No ink or power cord or installation disc. Worked the last time we used it, about 6 months ago, then we ran out of ink, & my rabbit chewed through the power cord.

(This whole thing is looking like a warning against having pets…)

And, finally, my favorite item…..

OFFER: EXTREMELY dirty towel. This was my cat's favorite sleeping spot for a year, so it has just tons of cat hair on it.

Hmmm....

I guess you can’t expect much for free, huh?