Sunday, June 27, 2010

"Things I want to do before I'm 35" #25 - Go through all my crap and donate a load of it to The Salvation Army.

I've had to downsize significantly for my impending move.  I moved a house-load of stuff to Ontario and, so far, with the help of my brother's in-law's storage company and my current cheap two bedroom apartment, I've been able to keep it all.  But now I'm moving to the big city.  The big city with big prices and small spaces.  And I no longer have room for my giant coffee table set and boxes of crap that I "might need later" and my lawnmower?  What?  Why on earth did I bring that.

So, in short, it's been quite a process but I've managed to almost cut my belongings in half.  I sold a bunch on Kijiji, gave another bunch to friends, but still ended up with 3 boxes full of household items and a box full of blankets so I decided I'd be a good person and donate them to The Salvation Army and the Humane Society respectively.

Some of the charities pick up but none were picking up until July so I found out where the drop-off place was, lugged four boxes down to the parking garage under my building and set out yesterday, in the pouring rain, to take them in myself.

Never having given to charities in person before, I wasn't really sure of what to expect.  But I sort of expected some sort of gratitude or happiness or, perhaps, even a small amount of politeness.  I got none of those things.

While pulling up to the back door, a cranky looking bearded man started approaching my car so I opened my window to let him know that I had few boxes to drop off and, before I even opened my mouth he barked out, "WE'RE ONLY TAKING CLOTHES."  "Oh", I said, "I was told..." "WELL, IT'S FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE".  And he said that even if I had clothes, I would have to wait until after the truck in front of me had unloaded and he really couldn't even guarantee that they would take my clothes anyways.  Because it had been a CRAZY week.  After a good eye roll, he told me to try the Good Will.  But DON'T tell them HE sent me.  If I even bother going because they probably won't have room for my stuff either.

It must be really tough having a CRAZY WEEK of people giving to charity.

So I went to the next place and stood out in the rain in the back until some woman opened the door with such force she almost knocked me over.  "What", she said. "I have a few boxes here to donate?" I sort of asked because she seriously looked like she was going to punch me in the face.  "Yeah?", she said.  "Are you taking donations?"(please don't punch me).  "Yeah", she says.  And, just to paint you a picture, she's just standing there, leaning against the wall, not moving to help me or ask me where the boxes are, looking at me like I'm just the hugest inconvenience that ever existed so I don't even know what to say or what do to do so I start asking her where I should go and she interrupts me with a giant sigh and looks at me like I'm incredibly stupid and obviously I should GIVE HER the boxes you fucking moron.

And so I do.  And each time I hand her a box she looks like I'm handing her a box of all of her broken dreams and disappointments and, you know, I didn't really expect her to kiss my feet or anything but a "thank you" might have been nice before she slammed the door in my face.

So, I was a bit disappointed after that.  And it wasn't like I was giving 4 boxes of books or broken dishes or soiled bedding or anything.  It was good stuff.  I threw all the crap in the garbage.  And, really, I know you don't give to charity to get something back, and it wasn't as if  I was expecting a parade in my honor or anything, but I sort of was expecting a "thank you".   Is that wrong?

On the positive side, the people at the Humane Society were really nice and seemed thrilled to get the blankets and said thank you and everything.  They even gave me some tips on cat adoption.  So the day wasn't all bad, it just sort of left me with a bad taste in my mouth that, by donating, I seemed to be severely inconveniencing two separate organizations that exist solely to help others.

But, whatever, I got to cross something else off my list.  And that's all that matters right?  Screw charity.

3 comments:

Curiosity said...

Ugh! How dare you give things to the needy. Don't you think of anyone but yourself? ...Maybe they're being forced to volunteer or something.

On the plus side, it was hilarious to read from this end. :)

notquiteawake said...

I thought about the volunteering part. Maybe it was community service or something. That actually makes sense. Ok charity, you win. This time....

Amanda @ It's Blogworthy said...

I've never heard someone so ungrateful about charity items. Honestly.
I don't expect a parade or anything either, but at least be thankful for what people are donating. Mercy. We got rid of a bunch of things before we moved from our apartment, turns out I moved empty shampoo bottles from WV all the way to Florida.