Freecycle Success

About a month ago I was so excited when I learned about Freecycle. In many ways it was much more appealing to me than even Craig's list and infinitely better than e-bay. I quickly signed up and started watching posts. People have all kinds of stuff they are giving away: couches and beds, scrap metal, plants, food, clothes, cats, dogs, and even sheep. And there are people out there eager to get their hands on this kind of stuff, especially for free.

About a week went by before I put up my own post:
OFFER: wood window blinds interwoven with tan/white/brown decorative yarn.

I also included all the dimensions. Immediately, someone contacted me for these very blinds. I was elated and quickly sent back a reply, but the woman didn't follow up. No biggie - I had a second taker, or so I thought. She didn't follow up either.

Ok so nobody wanted my blinds, but perhaps I could give to those requesting items. I finally found the perfect post - somebody wanting end tables and lamps. I just happened to have two extra end tables and three extra lamps - perfect for this 18 year old going off to college. But no response.

Maybe I'd have better luck if I tried to take something. I was definitely interested in the "tons of canning jars" in Independence. My inquiry got no response, not even a "sorry, they're spoken for," which is all I really expected. Now is that too much to ask.

So I had very low expectations when I replied to "Wanted: curtains" yesterday. But today I got a phone call - not an e-mail - an actual person! Not only was this great for coordinating, but I got her whole life story to boot. It turns out that Jessica needed the curtains for her dad's 1900's house because the windows are quite drafty in the winter time. Her dad is a "bachelor and is clueless about these kind of things." But she wants it taken care of because she is going to be moving in with her dad because she is expecting and due in November. She said she send her mom over right away to pick up the curtains. A little too much information, to be sure, but I was just so excited to finally be getting rid of something.

About an hour later a woman showed up. She said she'd be happy to take all of my unwanted curtains (even the ugly red striped ones!!) so I helped pile them into her car.

My faith was restored. One man's (woman's) trash was another man's treasure.
Time to offer up more of my junk, er, um, I mean treasures.