filed in Daily Life
Sweating the Small Stuff
I’ve been fuming about petty things this week. Like people dumping ripped sofas and mattresses on my street with signs, “Take me. I’m free.” No one wants the crap, and it’s such an eyesore. But finally I decided to take action and call the city, and it’s a miracle! A big truck came and hauled them away. Made my day.
Image by Johanna Goodman
Discussion
12 comments for “Sweating the Small Stuff”
Leave a Reply
About this Site
FIRST PERSON SINGULAR is a guide to surviving, thriving and sometimes just getting through a single day. Created by Wendy Braitman (more…)
Follow First Person Singular
Greatest Hits
© 2010 First Person Singular. 
That type of dumping is a frequent occurrence in my city, too. Such an eyesore. In the condo/townhouse complex I live in, if people do this, our condo development has to pay for the removal each time. It’s so inconsiderate to the other tenants, and to the other folks in the development and neighbourhood. The “make it someone else’s problem” mentality is frustrating.
It makes me crazy. Just take care of your stuff, PLEASE.
This made me laugh in a way though…b/c it reminded me of my college days, sharing a house with several girls, when even a thoroughly used couch left on the sidewalk “free to a good home” meant JACKPOT! It was also an excuse bribe a few hunky college boys to help haul our treasure to our shared house with the promise of a few beers. Ahh…
BUT that was then, and I agree, its such an eyesore and unnecessarily frustrating now.
That’s a lovely memory, Lola. I’m going to sincerely try and visualize it the next time I walk by a rotting couch.
I call it “The shit pile”. I’ve experienced 2 in the past 6 years. They were left in front of the rental next to my house.
Windy, I’ve suffered the angst of petty this week as well.
This too shall Pass!
Once I took action on the couch, I felt a lot better. That is, until a guy in a speeding BMW cut me off.
Ah, yes, sometimes I too am greeted with giveaway junk in the lobby of my building. Lovely.
There is something awesome-feeling about being the squeaky wheel and getting results. (Says the resident police-caller for knock-down, drag-out domestic shouting matches among the neighbors.)
Good for you, Kate. One of my proudest accomplishments is getting a pothole fixed.
We have occasional dumping problems in our neighborhood, but they are generally from non-residents in the squares of grass that are either city-owned or don’t necessarily seem to “belong” to the next house. The city is very good about cleaning them up quickly with a phone call, thankfully.
But the very posh neighborhood I used to live in was a GOLD MINE for “castaways.” I currently own a very nice dresser and very nice plant stand that someone left on the curb “free.” And when I left castaways I didn’t need anymore out when I left, they were all gone within a few hours. I’m sure a ripped/stained/rotting item would draw a call there, as well, but the quality of the stuff left out was astoundingly good, in general.
Your stuff sounds way better than our stuff.
I took a picture of a great sign on a discarded piece of furniture in NYC once. Someone put it on the sidewalk with a “free” sign. Someone wrote a note on it something to the effect of “hey look some d-bag put this in the way on the sidewalk.” Someone else wrote on the sign after it rained about how now the rain had ruined the furniture and the sign. It was pretty amusing, now I want to find that picture.
I heart NYC.