You know what they say: One person’s trash is another person’s, um, blog fodder…
And since desperate times (read: the week before Pesach when even the Our Shiputzim General Theory of Pesach Cleaning doesn’t really allow for too much blogging time) call for desperate measures (read: scouring one’s local email discussion group for material), here’s a partial list of the stuff that people in our community have tried to foist on their unsuspecting neighbors to generously give away for free over the past week:
- Filo dough and fleishig kishke for cholent
- Electric scooter and charger (the scooter isn’t charged)
- Broken printer
- Old vacuum cleaner (the on/off button doesn’t always work, and the machine is a “picky eater”)
- Amcor refrigerator (needs to be fixed)
- 3 women’s hats (2 straw hats and one brown winter hat) and a number of Purim costumes (including Superman and Power Rangers)
- New projector (still in original package) and a small TV (seems to work)
- Boxwood display cabinet
- Child’s desk
- Infant car seat (the upholstery is torn)
- Crystal washing machine (working condition) and a crib
- Morphy Richards steam cleaner with all the parts (excellent condition); two keyboards; and two computer mice
- Fresh chicken bones for soup (kosher for Pesach)
- Baby carriage and Israeli hiking guidebook
- Couch cover (ideal for a clubhouse or a snif)
- 13 cassette tapes of Rav Ovadiah Yosef’s shiurim (on Shabbat and Yom Tov)
- Hebrew and English vocabulary flash cards
- Cookbooks
- 50 back issues of a children’s nature magazine
- Metal spotlights
- Electric burner with room for two pots (not clean)
- 700 grams of Stage 1 baby formula
What have been some of the more interesting pre-Pesach offerings in your neck of the woods?
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P.S. The latest Haveil Havalim is available here. Special thanks to Trip'n Mommy for including my shattered dreams post.
In all seriousness, it bothers me when people try to give away things that are really useless. (Clearly not everything on your list falls under that definition). When my kids were babies I had friends come to my house with large garbage bags of children's clothes that were, as it happened, garbage. A close relative can't bear to part with anything, even unwanted items she receives for free - they end up in my house. I don't view this as generous ... I view this as a pathological need to avoid throwing things out. If something is useless, please feel free to throw it out - my house is cluttered enough already!
ReplyDelete<end rant
A beggar came to my door and asked for money. A few seconds later she knocked again and asked if I had a hat--hers was too hot. I offered her a mitpachat (a nice one that I don't use) but she wanted a summer hat. So I offered a dressy one that someone had passed down to me. She was pleased but asked me about the hat I was wearing. I told her it was a winter hat (it is, and it's also irreplaceable).
ReplyDeleteDon't you have beggars in your neighborhood????
tesyaa - That's why I always wonder if someone actually wanted any of this stuff. Sometimes, the person giving the item away will report back to the discussion group to say that the item is no longer available, but I'm curious, for instance, if anyone jumped at the chance to score some free filo dough the week before Pesach... :-)
ReplyDeleteMiI - We have plenty of beggars, but I can't say anyone ever asked me to give them the very clothes off my back or, as in your case, the very hat off my head... :-)
I for sure would have taken the chicken for soup.
ReplyDeleteMiI - I wonder why the person who offered the chicken couldn't just freeze it for a different time.
ReplyDeleteI gave away a kilo of frozen puff pastry (bazek alim) before pesach, to someone who wanted it for the shabbat hagadol, also a kilo of flour, and my friend gave away 2 bottles of beer!
ReplyDeleteKeren - Did you advertize it on your local email list?
ReplyDelete