Thursday, August 31, 2006

Trash-picking

Last night we went to church, the first Wednesday Night service of our marriage. DOB was excited because the pastor was doing an open-question night, which apparently he does once a quarter, but then disappointed to find out that you have to get the questions in a day in advance so he has time to study on them. And no one else had sent any questions in. DOB intends to see that there is never a shortage of questions again.

Anyway, we were pulling into our driveway and I saw three children's bicycles in the trash pile across the street. I promptly jumped out and ran across the street, rang the doorbell and asked if those were really trash or if the children had just parked them in the wrong spot. Sure enough, they were throwing them out. The grandkids had outgrown them.

"They need new tires," he said, "Or, maybe they just need air."

Well, maybe indeed. Anyway, there we are, all set with bicycles until the children are seven. They're girl bikes, though. I hope D2 doesn't mind. Or maybe a neighbor with grandsons will throw something out.

DOB muttered something about people not knowing about Goodwill and putting perfectly good stuff in a landfill. Which is true, but then, if they'd taken them to Goodwill, we'd have had to pay for them instead of getting them for free.

And maybe now that they know I'm not above rummaging through the garbage, they'll think of me when they have other things to throw away.

3 comments:

Meredith said...

Neat!
The more I balk at our Goodwill's high pricing, the more often I put our own give-aways at the curb (or Freecycle).

Mary Ann said...

Awesome! Your kids will enjoy these. All of our bikes growing up were from dumpsters or cast offs from someone. Dad would fix them up and we never minded at all!

the Joneses said...

I had a girl's 3-speed bike for my first adult-sized bike. Worked fine for me, especially since it had a more comfortable seat than any of my friends' bikes.

--DJ