Sometimes the best gift is the one you give away. Last year and the 2 years before, I spent a couple of hours winding the lights around the branches of our tree. It was the hardest the year that I was pregnant; Pulguito arrived on December 31st, so I was very pregnant. DH was always impressed by the display but not with the amount of work required, so after xmas last year, he bought meus a new prelit tree. We kept the old one because I thought we would have a better chance of giving it away before xmas instead of after.
Early this December, I placed an ad on Craig’s List for a free tree. I got about 25 responses. The first woman was a comlete flake. She said she wanted the tree, but it was too inconvient for her to come by when I was off work. After a few days of back and forth e-mails, I’d had enough. I put the tree out on the curb and told her to come get it whenever. Did she? No.
So I went on to the second responder. I feel really bad about this, but you should note that I did try to warn her. The woman wanted the tree for her not-for-profit. Great, I’m all for it, just come get the @#$% thing. It’s on the curb, this is my address, and these are the directions. Oh, you don’t want the directions. You can find it on the map. Okay. Your coming to get it tomorrow afternoon. Wonderful. I’m not going to be home; DH will be, but it’s on the curb. She calls (DH doesn’t hear the phone); she’s lost in Livermore. Help. DH didn’t understand the number on the voicemail, so he couldn’t call her back. I called her when I got home and left a message, but I didn’t hear back from her.
DH is threatening to throw the tree in the trash.
I e-mail the third responder. Yes, she still wants the tree. She lives in Livermore; I give her directions anyway. They come for the tree that day after work, but it’s dark, and they forgot the house number. When she gets home, she calls and says, “It was dark. I forgot the house number. I couldn’t find the tree. We’re coming back to get the tree.” Great! I’m watching for them. When her husband pulls up, I go out to help him find the tree in the dark. It turns out that we both work at the same place. They have little kid, and this will be their first xmas tree. I’m really happy the tree has found a good home.
I check my e-mail the next day. They had written me a nice thank you note, telling me, again, how grateful they are.
It still feels really good that I gave away the tree, and it was worth the effort.
Photo Tuesday’s theme is PRICELESS.
Food Logs every day
Hooray for giving away the tree! It was meant for that third person, but good grief, what a hassle! We just got rid of a large bookcase unit with similar hassles. I offered it free to my co-worker before offering it for sale on the flea market at work (for sale, since “free” sometimes brings out people who don’t really want it, as you found). I emailed my co-worker with the pictures but he got sick and didn’t come into work. Finally after 5 days he emailed me that he didn’t think the bookcase would work for them. I rushed to get it posted on the flea market before everyone left for the holidays and the ad finally showed up late last Friday. I got a voicemail from a guy who left a number but no one ever answered and he wasn’t listed in our phone directory at work. I finally gave up on him and contacted a woman who emailed me. We ended up delivering the bookcase to her house in Menlo Park after work (60 mile round trip) but it was worth it. She kept exclaiming that it was such a nice bookcase and was truely thankful we delivered it. She gave us $50 (we only asked for $35) and thought that wasn’t enough. She’s leaving her current position to start her own business and is thrilled to have this bookcase for her office.
So sometimes things do work out for the best. We’ve given away lots of things, including 3 vehicles. Yes, we gave two cars and a truck to friends who needed them more than we did. I’d like to think that good stuff will come our way as a result, but I feel I have plenty of daily rewards I’m not always aware of.
Here’s a website you might find interesting: http://www.globalrichlist.com/