Drop off and pick up

Let me preface this with a statement: I don't dumpster dive with any kind of regularity. Occasionally, I have scoped out the stacks of random ikea furniture, office chairs, and even crapped out bicycles that are thrown away by people moving out of my apartment building. The bike was fun, although I learned the brakes didn't work. Painfully. And, yes, I have a few books that I picked up off the curb that someone had set out to be picked up by the garbage man. That's about the limit.

I carted a large box of odds and ends out to Goodwill today. I honestly wasn't sure whether there would be anyone available to take it, but the website assured me that they are available everyday. It's not far, at any rate.

Pulling up to the donation center, it seems that the website lied. There was no one to be seen to receive the goods. However, it soon became obvious that didn't stop people from leaving items behind. There's a small white picket fence around the steps leading to the donation center, and there were several items waiting for a new home: stereos, bags of clothes, forlorn appearing toys, and an old, beat up dress form.

I took some time to examine the last item after wrestling the box I was delivering out of the back seat. It was pushed behind stacks of donations, and had the look of having spent a substantial amount of time in an attic. There was, in fact, something slightly creepy about it. This was more likely my own paranoias speaking though - I find something about mannequins slightly disquieting, and there's something about an adjustable torso that just makes me feel uneasy. However, a unique find shouldn't be ignored. But what use for a dress form in my apartment? None.

Driving away, it sprang to mind that there was at least one person that could find a use for such a thing. A quick phone call, a quick U-turn, and back to Goodwill. Only to find that the center was no longer unmanned - in the 5 minutes away from the place, there was a man loading items into a truck for transport. Not to be dissuaded, I approached him and spoke. A blank stare. I tried Spanish. Bingo. I pointed to the large box I had just deposited and asked whether I could trade one for the other. He shifted from one stance to the other, hrmmed, shook his head, no. I would have to wait for it to be put on sale at the center. I must have looked disappointed. I have a tendency to get sad puppy eyes when that happens, and suddenly, he looked around and said (in Spanish), "Look, I really don't care. Let me get this other stuff loaded up, drive off, and then you're free to take it." I lended him a hand, waved him off, stuffed the thing into my back seat and drove away triumphant.

So, a cool find. I look forward to seeing it being put to good use living up to all it's creepy potential.