I was jogging the streets of my neighborhood yesterday morning in the rain. My neighbors have begun assembling their contribution to the annual 'spring cleanup' that is offered by the city of Highland Park whereby homeowners are able to dispose of unwanted things that would normally be considered special pick up for the outsourced scavenger service Veolia provides the city and its residents. Believe me, I have in mind a large pile of useless clutter that I will contribute... Old car seats, a damaged dehumidifier, boxes of cheap plastic toys, nick knacks and other items that make my life UN-feng shui. The truth is this annual event brings many visitors to the neighborhood to claim another man's trash as their own treasure. I have an example as illustrated below.
I found a full set of leather bound Encyclopedia Britannica bicentennial edition. My first thought while running by these volumes of data was horror as the rain soaked them like cereal in milk. Also envisioned an image of the Royal Library of Alexandria going up in flames. While I know that information is now easily accessed online it seemed unreasonable to throw these books and others to the curb. I imagined how useful they'd be for a child in an impoverished setting desiring to learn but without the resources. I sprinted home and got in my car to pick them up and promptly arranged them in front of a dehumidifier at my Parents house, since mine is broken, and I will find a new home for them this spring. The humor of the situation for me was as I frantically collected the set the homeowner began backing out of their driveway leaving for the day... I thought to myself, "I know this is a bit awkward for you too."
Unbelievable!
