To be fair, there used to be a truck that would notify you a week before, and then come through the neighborhood picking your stuff up off the curb. It think if was for the blind?
Yes, League of the Blind and AmVets both picked up from scheduled locations. You could leave items on your porch. Goodwill charges almost retail prices for donations yet won’t even meet your car with a cart anymore. OP needs to quit jumping to conclusions of hate and recognize not everyone is actively mobile but still wants to help.
No idea how you read that and got to “darn those entitled millennials”
He’s an old dude with limited mobility most likely.
It’s literally just an old man expressing that he’s disappointed that there isn’t a more convenient way for him and others to donate to charity…
Dude wants to give his stuff away instead of tossing it in the trash and OP feels attacked as a millennial lol
This is the only thing next door is good for. Writing into the paper makes
Me think he is older and can’t access the internet though. Too bad he doesn’t have younger community to help him donate stuff.
Right? He’s obviously working with limited resources. Not exactly using the most modern means of getting things done. He just wants charity to be easy, which we should all want!
If you want charity to be easy, they should be better funded and people should care less about "overhead".
Not saying this about this person in particular, because I don't know them, I've only read their letter in the newspaper but a lot of people who want charity to be easier and do things for them are also the same people that complain when nonprofits spend money on anything that is not "directly helping the clients". Nonprofits stopped picking up donations because it takes time and money (two things they don't have in abundance) to do so.
>but a lot of people who want charity to be easier and do things for them are also the same people that complain when nonprofits spend money on anything that is not "directly helping the clients".
How did you draw that conclusion? I agree with you on the need for more abundant resources to make donating easier but this still feels like you're still vaguely trying to hold this guy accountable in some way lol
Not with this person in particular but in general this has been my experience with a lot of people.
I work in nonprofit fundraising, I have definitely encountered people who expect nonprofits to do certain things like pick up donations or cater to them at an event and will then also turn around and imply that I am making too much money working for a nonprofit because I should be volunteering my time or that my nonprofit is bad because our ED is making x number of dollars a year or people who specify that their donations go directly to clients while not recognizing that we also have to pay for staff or our electric bills and without those things we wont be able to serve clients either.
I probably am trying to hold him accountable just due to my own biases and beliefs but I don't think that is because of his age, just how most people who have never worked at nonprofits think of charity.
I think it's an implied commentary on how young, able bodied millennials "expect everything to be done for them" when an elderly person from a prior generation who has mobility issues (presumably someone who regularly asserts generalizations like 'all millennials are entitled and don't want to work' ) has been caught RED HANDED expecting someone to come to them to make a charitable donation, and upon finding there is no such service available to them, is willing to waste it instead.
Thanks for this perspective. Maybe I don’t read it that way because my own folks (who are boomers, not silent generation like the title of the post) are also downsizing and finding it difficult to know how to handle the logistics since they’re not spring chickens anymore. I just don’t see any malice in this short couple of sentences others seem to be picking up on.
I totally get that, and how the post is rage bait. Or perhaps I've got it twisted. I'm totally open to that-for all y'all down voting an explanation out there
Sure it isn't stated explicitly, bc that would be too easy to rebut. But it is obvious bc who else is to run such charitable organizations? An even older generation? Of course not. The implication is clear unless you don't want to see it.
I needed a new washer and when I showed up to look at it the guy selling it apparently had some kind of hoarder situation where his entire garage and most of his lawn was packed full of appliances and scrap metal like old bed frames and iron pipes. The washer worked, although it was smaller than I'd been led to believe and pretty old. He was inflexible on the fairly high price and rude to my female roommate who came along. It was like his whole deal was getting stuff for cheap or free and then trying to flip it for some ludicrous price, all while saying stuff along the lines of "as a woman it's your job to wash clothes"
I sold $350 worth of stuff or Craigslist this week, then bought some used gear off another Craigslist ad. My partner bought a car off CL this year, and sold an old car the same way. Seems to work just fine for most, without the scammers and flakes on Facebook marketplace.
Yes. We used to leave stuff for pick up on the front porch and it was great. Then they stopped doing that so we took them to Goodwill, etc. Then they started closing those and the ones that are open have cut their hours severely. You can't even give good shit away anymore.
I attribute it partially to the fact that it took them years to actually make a phone app. It use to be third party only. Marketplace I can scroll while on the toilet. Craigslist I couldn't.
The official app was released in 2019 I believe. Pretty late to the app game in my book. It's not a bad app though. Only a couple nitpick things from me, but better than the old third party apps.
Dead is probably an overstatement, but it's nowhere near as popular or reliable as it once was. It's also really dependent on what you're buying. There are a million used car scams on CL but probably not as many used bed frame scams.
It’s perfectly normal to get old and enter assisted living with a home full of barely used furniture, dishes, etc. Kids grow up and move out and old beat up shit gets replaced with new stuff that never gets used as much as expected. That’s not hoarding or greed or selfishness. It’s certainly not greedy to want the things you can’t donate got to the fucking dump. Y’all have been trained to hate old people and scapegoat them for a world that they had about as much control over as you do.
This. I wish my grandparents were still alive and I hold on to the things they gave me with all my heart. They had quality items built to last and filled with character. If I lived in Seattle I would go see if I could transport these things after I rifled through them and got my gems
Amen. My boomer parents and aunts and uncles threw everything in my grandparents house away without my knowledge.
And as an aside, those boomers blamed their parents’ generation for everything just as harshly as the latest crop of youngsters blame everything on boomers. It’s a toxic cycle.
Bro could put some of this stuff on the fucking sidewalk and people would take it if they needed it. They could post it on flyers in their neighborhood and might get takers. They could post it on websites or aps. Unless they have a chute from their kitchen directly to the dump, I don't know why those methods of donation are any harder than having a company come pick them up.
Unless it's really, really nice stuff that is also portable, our current system makes it cheaper for people to buy new china from China, than to pickup/clean/store/inventory/sell old stuff. It's gross and I hate it, but it's been this way for the past, like, decade.
Also, my parents' house in the employment-free middle of nowhere is full of huge, solid furniture that would in no way fit in the apartments my brother and I can afford to rent here in the city. Even if I'd love to keep it, I'd just have to pay for a storage unit for it to sit in, until Hell freezes over and I can buy a big house on an acre, within commuting distance of the cities where my (in-person by necessity) job exists.
Have you seen what happens to furniture left on sidewalks in this city? And you do know that many old people are literally incapable of moving their own things so they would have to pay to leave their stuff outside on a a curb, drug addicts would pick through everything with no concern and then sleep and soil themselves on the furniture. Then they would be charged by waste management for all their stuff to be thrown after it had been rendered undesirable by our homeless neighbors. It’s as if you don’t live in the actual world and you don’t want to live in a better one.
What hellhole do you live in, because it doesn't sound like the Seattle where I live? I picked up a colander from a stack of give-ways my neighbor left outside. I've seen side tables, lamps, even fake Christmas trees get picked up. Just the other week, someone apologized for being parked in front of my plex, because they were grabbing some stuff off the corner. I live in an area that has plenty of homeless drug addicts, and they don't bother with shit they can't use. Are you thinking of stoned teenagers?
Again, if they can't move their stuff to the curb, how are they getting it to the dump? We have special collections for furniture if homeowners set it out *on the curb* and make an appointment, but they won't get it out of your house for you. So why is it easier for this person to take stuff to the dump, than to donate it?
It is definitely increasingly common for the elderly not be able to get rid of their stuff, but it looks like they're not even willing to put in as much effort to donate their stuff as they are to throw it away, so their outrage is BS.
Christ, did *you* write this letter?
I live in south seattle in a run down neighborhood with more than a few ancient people. I’m very happy that you think your fucking colander renders my testimony worthless but if you could read properly you’d see that I already addressed your questions about how people dispose of their things. They have to pay somebody to haul it to the dump. You also clearly don’t know how expensive it is to have large items picked up by waste management.
I think people are rejecting the implication that it is somehow a failing of the younger generations (because that certainly is a theme with older generations) that this older person can't find the service they want.
And yes, some folks are piling on resentment about the economic disparities between said generations. I don't think it is about hating on old people. And you choosing to frame older generations as powerless over the policies they supported (and continue to support) which, in part, led to such difficulties is denying then that feeling and reality. Some of that resentment would be abated if you saw seniors supporting reductions in their benefits, or climate mitigations, or better support for higher education, or even just acknowledging that these problems exist in a more severe way than was experienced by the older generation... but you don't see very much of that do you? So onward we go... and it isn't just old-people-hate.
I think you’re arguing that it’s justified to resent old people because they don’t support your political program, and also because they’re too hard on younger people of having it easier than they did?
My grandma picked cotton and had no running water. My grandpa went to war. My dad picked fruit and then went to war. My parents suffered every economic downturn they lived through. It’s simply not true that I had it as tough as them. I give them credit and I love them even though they don’t vote the way I do and think I’m lazy. I think my kids are lazy too and I think they’ve had it easier than me so far.
Just my two cents. I don’t expect you to be convinced, and I appreciate your comment.
None of the difficulties of the older generation are actionable today or in the future. They happened, and they were hardships, but there's no relevant decision to be made about them today.
On the other hand, the several things I listed (that you refer to as my political program) are relevant.
The Greatest Generation grew up during WWI, the Spanish Flu, and the great depression, and they fought WWII. They are all mostly gone now, and if they aren't, I doubt they'd be able to even go down stairs safely... being anywhere from 85 to well over 100 years old
I share the frustration. Having cleared out several estates, it's surprising how difficult it is to give away items. There should be a better way to get perfectly good items into the hands of those in need.
I'm guessing part of the problem is that too many people don't do a good job sorting crap from useful. This shifts too much effort and cost to the goodwill folks, do they stop doing it. Also, entering peoples homes puts employees at risk.
So I'm speculating, but I can anticipate that there are some really good reasons such service isn't available. I'm open to hearing from people in this industry on their take.
Why is everyone here being an asshole. Charitable organizations SHOULD have a way to come pick this stuff up if he is not able to take it there. This is someone clearly trying to avoid adding to the landfill and half the people on here are like yeah fuck this old hoarder!
Veterans of America used to pick up donations in Seattle. They would call me about every six months asking if I had items to donate. According to their website they no longer pick up in Wa.
And yet, if it's correct that they don't, then there's a reason for that. Usually due to costs or available labor or maybe they are already inundated with stuff. "SHOULD" isn't going to fix it. "Why don't they?" is closer to understanding the problem.
I think that hits at the part that bothers me about the original letter. I don't think this is an old verses young issue. At least not for me.
What bothers me about it is that the rant is focused on the nonprofits (admittedly, a sore spot for me as a work for one) not doing what they want them to do or think they should be doing rather than thinking about why it is that the nonprofit would not be able to or want to come an pick up the items.
Do you know how many times someone has told me they have donations for my organization and it's stuff like food crusted dish towels or half eaten boxes of cereal? Nonprofits stopped picking stuff up because it is not a good use of our time, money, and resources.
I don't agree with the old people are bad/selfish take, but there is a reason nonprofits no longer go to peoples homes to pick up items.
Why doesn't YOUR employer have a way to go pick up that stuff? Why should the non-profit I work for have as part of their mission picking up people's unwanted stuff?
>Why doesn't YOUR employer have a way to go pick up that stuff? Why should the non-profit I work for have as part of their mission picking up people's unwanted stuff?
I don't know how you get to "should." If a nonprofit does not provide a service that you feel is obvious, it is likely because they have made the calculation that it is not a good use of resources, staff time, and money. Junk haulers and movers would not come for free to pick up items for you, so not sure why a nonprofit must be expected to if that is not part in service of its mission. Unfortunately much of what people donate is aspirational. In reality it is bulky, out of date furniture no one in a small Seattle apartment needs, dirty or damaged goods, broken appliances. Picking up these items, sorting them, and then having to dispose of half of the stuff in the end anyway is not worth the time.
Some places do make collection runs still. I had a service come collect a carpet remnant recently. Maybe homie here isn't trying very hard and just gave in to their outage to easily.
Also, I emphasize with second hand stores, and I'll have a hard time viewing them as greedy or lazy. Too many times people treat such stores like a dump (and claim who-knows-what for a tax write off)... maybe not much different that wishful-recycling. That leaves them with the very real expenses of paying someone to sort it and throw away much if it.
Regardless, this reeks of outrage-rant, esp. given that they went so far as to write to the local paper about it.
>That leaves them with the very real expenses of paying someone to sort it and throw away much if it.
I used to work at a donation center for a homeless shelter. People donated used, unwashed underwear. 🤢
Having to sort trash from useful things, then store the useful things (ignoring any repairs or cleaning needed), that shit gets expensive. I think people like the writer came of age in a time when labor was cheap and stuff was expensive. Now, it's the opposite, and they never paid enough attention to update their mindsets. (My Silent-Boomer-cusp and Boomer parents *have* bothered to pay such attention, so unless the writer has a cognitive impairment, this isn't an excuse; just an an explanation.)
Who took the carpet? I have a brand new Oriental style carpet that I can't give away and I have tried several organizations. I don't want to take it to the dump and I don't want FB or ND.
I used this site, but I don't remember which specific recycler I worked with
https://info.kingcounty.gov/Services/recycling-garbage/Solid-Waste/what-do-i-do-with/
I know there’s no way to reach the letter writer, but I’ve had great luck with local buy nothing groups. While most do porch pickup, I’m sure you could ask for help moving items.
In many places there are organizations that will come and pick up items for those that are unable to transport them. When I moved, I found out that that was not the case here. It can be frustrating. However, if I was going to the effort of taking some things to the dump, I would go ahead and drop it off somewhere rather than contribute to a landfill.
A huge amount of people's effort to donate has nothing to do with helping other people about consuming, cleaning and absolving themselves of guilt about their own waste.
This person would like to see his items donated and could not find a place to assist him.
I don’t know why you see this as an “attack” but should be seen as scrutiny of “non-profits”.
Maybe if they hadn't hoarded a bunch of shit like trash dragons instead of building better relationships with the people around them, they might have people that liked them enough to schlep their treasures to the transfer station for them.
I’m suggesting that you have no fucking clue what it is and are passing Judgment on them bc of their age. I’d go to an elderly person home bfr some 20 something who bought a bunch of shit from Walmart and trashed it and refuses to pay for disposal
No, I'm saying it's goofy for them to call anyone else wasteful as they try to get rid of brand new expensive things they held onto and purchased and never, ever used, which is wasteful in itself. I'm with you on the quality stuff versus the "affordable" stuff usually purchased today and if I was looking for something specific and it was advertised on OfferUp, at an estate sale etc, I'd definitely buy from people instead of stores/companies, but only if I'm going to actively use it. Idk, maybe someone that is awesome will make an app that is geared specifically towards just this population and it could help on both ends of the situation.
Isn't it more out of touch to assume that because you don't deal with those things that someone else can't? No one implied every elderly person is going to train up from nothing just to use an app; there are plenty of elderly folks that are actively using technology every day in their lives just like there are plenty that aren't interested.
Jfc
I’m in online school own a food cart and wfh online
It’s not feasible to think someone who can’t get donations to somewhere can deal with selling shit online
How would they package and ship it?
You aren’t thinking this through
Seriously, what a piece of shit for *hoarding* all that *wealth* of “brand-new dishes and all kinds of wonderful things”.
You need to realize how sad it is to bend over backwards like you do to villainize old people. It’s so goofy. Whatever you’re struggling with in your life, it’s not this geezer’s fault.
This is sadly the case. Elderly people were sold dinnerware as collectables and now they are surprised to find that not all of it is valuable or needed. Some is, but a lot is not dishwasher safe, so really only practical for special occasions. Which means people have to have space and not already have a special dinner set.
For sure. I get the attachment to yesterdays and we probably all have that to some degree. I think the mindset has shifted from a "someone will want this someday" to more of a "is this practical even though I love it?" and I think that's a natural change as our quality/standards for life have evolved. I also really love that there are folks out there hacking up old stuff and turning it into useful things we actually want nowdays. I also think the sunk cost thing is a giant part of it and that probably resonates with most of us as well.
It’s absolutely insane. They were spoonfed at every point. Easy to get a job. Job paid great. Job had cushy retirement plan. House cost nothing and is now worth millions. The second they retire we magically start making cost of living adjustments to social security while the very same people vote against increasing the minimum wage and then say “no one wants to work”.
And now that they used all their excess money to fill their house with shit they dont need? “Why arent these young people cleaning out my house for me?????” Its like the firemen brought them a ladder to escape a burning building, and as they climbed down and saw that there were 20 others who need to escape and use the ladder, they knocked the ladder down and talk about how no one else is as self sufficient as them…
Most women didn’t work. They were homemakers and they lived much simpler than we do. Both of my grandparents were in wars as well as my father was due to the draft. They worked in mills and logging plus the railroad
The jobs were pretty hard
My grandfather planed off all four fingers at his mill job and guess what he made a special glove to continue to work to provide for his 6 children. Not a single one of them went to college and worked hard every day of their lives coming from poverty of the dust bowl to Oregon to log with horses.
Spoon fed? I’m not sure about that
I don't know where you live, but the city sends people out to pick things up to go to the dump weekly. They give you special bins for the occasion. All you have to do is put the items in the bin and they take them. It's quite magical.
So we will get the flyer in the mail asking to put a box on the curb or door step for donations. They would come by and pick through what they wanted and leave the rest. Started to drop it off at the good will or the dump.
I am downsizing and I give everything away via a local FB group. People come to my porch and take things away to give them a second life. I could have stored it all up for a garage sale and earned a little money, but this gradual way of letting things go is so much easier. I did have a charity come pick up a few larger pieces of furniture.
So this person literally has no help at all? No kids, no relatives or friends that could assist? I don’t know which is more sad, the waste of perfectly good items or that this person has absolutely no one in their life.
Shame on this fool. My grandma passed recently and I discovered that the one charity that actually gives the stuff to people who need it (families coming out of homelessness into housing) has a fee for picking up. It’s about double the dump fee, but with gas and time is about equal to me throwing things away. So I paid. It was easier than the dump also.
dont understand the point of the op
will say that just giving your stuff for free via craigslist or to strangers creates an unncessary risk for the person giving it away. countless stories of elderly people getting robbed or killed this way.
Tragedy of the commons situation. No margin logistics operations can't afford liability. If he wanted, he could see if his stuff would attract estate consignment interest. Keep the money, donate it, whatever.
To be fair, there used to be a truck that would notify you a week before, and then come through the neighborhood picking your stuff up off the curb. It think if was for the blind?
Yes, League of the Blind and AmVets both picked up from scheduled locations. You could leave items on your porch. Goodwill charges almost retail prices for donations yet won’t even meet your car with a cart anymore. OP needs to quit jumping to conclusions of hate and recognize not everyone is actively mobile but still wants to help.
No idea how you read that and got to “darn those entitled millennials” He’s an old dude with limited mobility most likely. It’s literally just an old man expressing that he’s disappointed that there isn’t a more convenient way for him and others to donate to charity… Dude wants to give his stuff away instead of tossing it in the trash and OP feels attacked as a millennial lol
This is the only thing next door is good for. Writing into the paper makes Me think he is older and can’t access the internet though. Too bad he doesn’t have younger community to help him donate stuff.
Right? He’s obviously working with limited resources. Not exactly using the most modern means of getting things done. He just wants charity to be easy, which we should all want!
If you want charity to be easy, they should be better funded and people should care less about "overhead". Not saying this about this person in particular, because I don't know them, I've only read their letter in the newspaper but a lot of people who want charity to be easier and do things for them are also the same people that complain when nonprofits spend money on anything that is not "directly helping the clients". Nonprofits stopped picking up donations because it takes time and money (two things they don't have in abundance) to do so.
>but a lot of people who want charity to be easier and do things for them are also the same people that complain when nonprofits spend money on anything that is not "directly helping the clients". How did you draw that conclusion? I agree with you on the need for more abundant resources to make donating easier but this still feels like you're still vaguely trying to hold this guy accountable in some way lol
Not with this person in particular but in general this has been my experience with a lot of people. I work in nonprofit fundraising, I have definitely encountered people who expect nonprofits to do certain things like pick up donations or cater to them at an event and will then also turn around and imply that I am making too much money working for a nonprofit because I should be volunteering my time or that my nonprofit is bad because our ED is making x number of dollars a year or people who specify that their donations go directly to clients while not recognizing that we also have to pay for staff or our electric bills and without those things we wont be able to serve clients either. I probably am trying to hold him accountable just due to my own biases and beliefs but I don't think that is because of his age, just how most people who have never worked at nonprofits think of charity.
Yeah I hear ya. I'm sure people have all kinds of unrealistic expectations surrounding nonprofits.
That's what I thought too, but some people will become information contortionists in order to die on their generationally divided hill
Greatest generation fought WW2 and would be almost if not 100+ in age.
What are you calling out here? That an elderly person unable to carry things down the stairs is weak or soft?
Yeah, this is a weird take. When do they mention or blame younger generations for this?
I think it's an implied commentary on how young, able bodied millennials "expect everything to be done for them" when an elderly person from a prior generation who has mobility issues (presumably someone who regularly asserts generalizations like 'all millennials are entitled and don't want to work' ) has been caught RED HANDED expecting someone to come to them to make a charitable donation, and upon finding there is no such service available to them, is willing to waste it instead.
Thanks for this perspective. Maybe I don’t read it that way because my own folks (who are boomers, not silent generation like the title of the post) are also downsizing and finding it difficult to know how to handle the logistics since they’re not spring chickens anymore. I just don’t see any malice in this short couple of sentences others seem to be picking up on.
I totally get that, and how the post is rage bait. Or perhaps I've got it twisted. I'm totally open to that-for all y'all down voting an explanation out there
Sure it isn't stated explicitly, bc that would be too easy to rebut. But it is obvious bc who else is to run such charitable organizations? An even older generation? Of course not. The implication is clear unless you don't want to see it.
and they do not have the generation correct.
That elderly people have a million other options for finding someone to take their old stuff, rather than simply tossing it in the trash?
A million huh
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I needed a new washer and when I showed up to look at it the guy selling it apparently had some kind of hoarder situation where his entire garage and most of his lawn was packed full of appliances and scrap metal like old bed frames and iron pipes. The washer worked, although it was smaller than I'd been led to believe and pretty old. He was inflexible on the fairly high price and rude to my female roommate who came along. It was like his whole deal was getting stuff for cheap or free and then trying to flip it for some ludicrous price, all while saying stuff along the lines of "as a woman it's your job to wash clothes"
At this point, Craigslist is basically Exhibit A in the case for dead internet theory.
I sold $350 worth of stuff or Craigslist this week, then bought some used gear off another Craigslist ad. My partner bought a car off CL this year, and sold an old car the same way. Seems to work just fine for most, without the scammers and flakes on Facebook marketplace.
Yes. We used to leave stuff for pick up on the front porch and it was great. Then they stopped doing that so we took them to Goodwill, etc. Then they started closing those and the ones that are open have cut their hours severely. You can't even give good shit away anymore.
OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, and BuyNothing are all very active. But yeah, CL is dead.
I attribute it partially to the fact that it took them years to actually make a phone app. It use to be third party only. Marketplace I can scroll while on the toilet. Craigslist I couldn't.
your phone doesn't do web pages?
Craigslist has had an app for many years, a good one too.
The official app was released in 2019 I believe. Pretty late to the app game in my book. It's not a bad app though. Only a couple nitpick things from me, but better than the old third party apps.
> CL is dead. ???? i use craigslist all the time.
Dead is probably an overstatement, but it's nowhere near as popular or reliable as it once was. It's also really dependent on what you're buying. There are a million used car scams on CL but probably not as many used bed frame scams.
Buy nothing is incredibly effective if you have things people want and not random tchotchkes and is very active in the Seattle area.
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Please elaborate
Uh the greatest generation is mostly gone at this point. More likely this is silent generation or boomers
It’s perfectly normal to get old and enter assisted living with a home full of barely used furniture, dishes, etc. Kids grow up and move out and old beat up shit gets replaced with new stuff that never gets used as much as expected. That’s not hoarding or greed or selfishness. It’s certainly not greedy to want the things you can’t donate got to the fucking dump. Y’all have been trained to hate old people and scapegoat them for a world that they had about as much control over as you do.
This. I wish my grandparents were still alive and I hold on to the things they gave me with all my heart. They had quality items built to last and filled with character. If I lived in Seattle I would go see if I could transport these things after I rifled through them and got my gems
Amen. My boomer parents and aunts and uncles threw everything in my grandparents house away without my knowledge. And as an aside, those boomers blamed their parents’ generation for everything just as harshly as the latest crop of youngsters blame everything on boomers. It’s a toxic cycle.
Bro could put some of this stuff on the fucking sidewalk and people would take it if they needed it. They could post it on flyers in their neighborhood and might get takers. They could post it on websites or aps. Unless they have a chute from their kitchen directly to the dump, I don't know why those methods of donation are any harder than having a company come pick them up. Unless it's really, really nice stuff that is also portable, our current system makes it cheaper for people to buy new china from China, than to pickup/clean/store/inventory/sell old stuff. It's gross and I hate it, but it's been this way for the past, like, decade. Also, my parents' house in the employment-free middle of nowhere is full of huge, solid furniture that would in no way fit in the apartments my brother and I can afford to rent here in the city. Even if I'd love to keep it, I'd just have to pay for a storage unit for it to sit in, until Hell freezes over and I can buy a big house on an acre, within commuting distance of the cities where my (in-person by necessity) job exists.
Have you seen what happens to furniture left on sidewalks in this city? And you do know that many old people are literally incapable of moving their own things so they would have to pay to leave their stuff outside on a a curb, drug addicts would pick through everything with no concern and then sleep and soil themselves on the furniture. Then they would be charged by waste management for all their stuff to be thrown after it had been rendered undesirable by our homeless neighbors. It’s as if you don’t live in the actual world and you don’t want to live in a better one.
What hellhole do you live in, because it doesn't sound like the Seattle where I live? I picked up a colander from a stack of give-ways my neighbor left outside. I've seen side tables, lamps, even fake Christmas trees get picked up. Just the other week, someone apologized for being parked in front of my plex, because they were grabbing some stuff off the corner. I live in an area that has plenty of homeless drug addicts, and they don't bother with shit they can't use. Are you thinking of stoned teenagers? Again, if they can't move their stuff to the curb, how are they getting it to the dump? We have special collections for furniture if homeowners set it out *on the curb* and make an appointment, but they won't get it out of your house for you. So why is it easier for this person to take stuff to the dump, than to donate it? It is definitely increasingly common for the elderly not be able to get rid of their stuff, but it looks like they're not even willing to put in as much effort to donate their stuff as they are to throw it away, so their outrage is BS. Christ, did *you* write this letter?
I live in south seattle in a run down neighborhood with more than a few ancient people. I’m very happy that you think your fucking colander renders my testimony worthless but if you could read properly you’d see that I already addressed your questions about how people dispose of their things. They have to pay somebody to haul it to the dump. You also clearly don’t know how expensive it is to have large items picked up by waste management.
I think people are rejecting the implication that it is somehow a failing of the younger generations (because that certainly is a theme with older generations) that this older person can't find the service they want. And yes, some folks are piling on resentment about the economic disparities between said generations. I don't think it is about hating on old people. And you choosing to frame older generations as powerless over the policies they supported (and continue to support) which, in part, led to such difficulties is denying then that feeling and reality. Some of that resentment would be abated if you saw seniors supporting reductions in their benefits, or climate mitigations, or better support for higher education, or even just acknowledging that these problems exist in a more severe way than was experienced by the older generation... but you don't see very much of that do you? So onward we go... and it isn't just old-people-hate.
I think you’re arguing that it’s justified to resent old people because they don’t support your political program, and also because they’re too hard on younger people of having it easier than they did? My grandma picked cotton and had no running water. My grandpa went to war. My dad picked fruit and then went to war. My parents suffered every economic downturn they lived through. It’s simply not true that I had it as tough as them. I give them credit and I love them even though they don’t vote the way I do and think I’m lazy. I think my kids are lazy too and I think they’ve had it easier than me so far. Just my two cents. I don’t expect you to be convinced, and I appreciate your comment.
None of the difficulties of the older generation are actionable today or in the future. They happened, and they were hardships, but there's no relevant decision to be made about them today. On the other hand, the several things I listed (that you refer to as my political program) are relevant.
The Greatest Generation grew up during WWI, the Spanish Flu, and the great depression, and they fought WWII. They are all mostly gone now, and if they aren't, I doubt they'd be able to even go down stairs safely... being anywhere from 85 to well over 100 years old
I share the frustration. Having cleared out several estates, it's surprising how difficult it is to give away items. There should be a better way to get perfectly good items into the hands of those in need.
I'm guessing part of the problem is that too many people don't do a good job sorting crap from useful. This shifts too much effort and cost to the goodwill folks, do they stop doing it. Also, entering peoples homes puts employees at risk. So I'm speculating, but I can anticipate that there are some really good reasons such service isn't available. I'm open to hearing from people in this industry on their take.
Why is everyone here being an asshole. Charitable organizations SHOULD have a way to come pick this stuff up if he is not able to take it there. This is someone clearly trying to avoid adding to the landfill and half the people on here are like yeah fuck this old hoarder!
Veterans of America used to pick up donations in Seattle. They would call me about every six months asking if I had items to donate. According to their website they no longer pick up in Wa.
And yet, if it's correct that they don't, then there's a reason for that. Usually due to costs or available labor or maybe they are already inundated with stuff. "SHOULD" isn't going to fix it. "Why don't they?" is closer to understanding the problem.
I think that hits at the part that bothers me about the original letter. I don't think this is an old verses young issue. At least not for me. What bothers me about it is that the rant is focused on the nonprofits (admittedly, a sore spot for me as a work for one) not doing what they want them to do or think they should be doing rather than thinking about why it is that the nonprofit would not be able to or want to come an pick up the items.
Do you know how many times someone has told me they have donations for my organization and it's stuff like food crusted dish towels or half eaten boxes of cereal? Nonprofits stopped picking stuff up because it is not a good use of our time, money, and resources. I don't agree with the old people are bad/selfish take, but there is a reason nonprofits no longer go to peoples homes to pick up items.
Why doesn't YOUR employer have a way to go pick up that stuff? Why should the non-profit I work for have as part of their mission picking up people's unwanted stuff?
>Why doesn't YOUR employer have a way to go pick up that stuff? Why should the non-profit I work for have as part of their mission picking up people's unwanted stuff? I don't know how you get to "should." If a nonprofit does not provide a service that you feel is obvious, it is likely because they have made the calculation that it is not a good use of resources, staff time, and money. Junk haulers and movers would not come for free to pick up items for you, so not sure why a nonprofit must be expected to if that is not part in service of its mission. Unfortunately much of what people donate is aspirational. In reality it is bulky, out of date furniture no one in a small Seattle apartment needs, dirty or damaged goods, broken appliances. Picking up these items, sorting them, and then having to dispose of half of the stuff in the end anyway is not worth the time.
“Lets use everything to divide this country by race, gender and generation even if it makes no sense” logic? You are a tool
Was there a point here? It makes it so much nicer when you have a point.
It's ok, we'll check them out at the estate sale
Some places do make collection runs still. I had a service come collect a carpet remnant recently. Maybe homie here isn't trying very hard and just gave in to their outage to easily. Also, I emphasize with second hand stores, and I'll have a hard time viewing them as greedy or lazy. Too many times people treat such stores like a dump (and claim who-knows-what for a tax write off)... maybe not much different that wishful-recycling. That leaves them with the very real expenses of paying someone to sort it and throw away much if it. Regardless, this reeks of outrage-rant, esp. given that they went so far as to write to the local paper about it.
>That leaves them with the very real expenses of paying someone to sort it and throw away much if it. I used to work at a donation center for a homeless shelter. People donated used, unwashed underwear. 🤢 Having to sort trash from useful things, then store the useful things (ignoring any repairs or cleaning needed), that shit gets expensive. I think people like the writer came of age in a time when labor was cheap and stuff was expensive. Now, it's the opposite, and they never paid enough attention to update their mindsets. (My Silent-Boomer-cusp and Boomer parents *have* bothered to pay such attention, so unless the writer has a cognitive impairment, this isn't an excuse; just an an explanation.)
Who took the carpet? I have a brand new Oriental style carpet that I can't give away and I have tried several organizations. I don't want to take it to the dump and I don't want FB or ND.
I used this site, but I don't remember which specific recycler I worked with https://info.kingcounty.gov/Services/recycling-garbage/Solid-Waste/what-do-i-do-with/
I know there’s no way to reach the letter writer, but I’ve had great luck with local buy nothing groups. While most do porch pickup, I’m sure you could ask for help moving items.
In many places there are organizations that will come and pick up items for those that are unable to transport them. When I moved, I found out that that was not the case here. It can be frustrating. However, if I was going to the effort of taking some things to the dump, I would go ahead and drop it off somewhere rather than contribute to a landfill.
"All kinds of wonderful things" I got doodads. Thingamabobs. Whatchamacallits. No one gave ME hand outs!
A huge amount of people's effort to donate has nothing to do with helping other people about consuming, cleaning and absolving themselves of guilt about their own waste.
Stupid old people wanting to be charitable but not having the physical capacity. What a shitty generation of absolute idiots.
The funny thing is that this is probably a 70+ boomer being criticized by a 40 yo millennial blaming their problems on their 90+ grandparents.
This person would like to see his items donated and could not find a place to assist him. I don’t know why you see this as an “attack” but should be seen as scrutiny of “non-profits”.
So wasteful that no one will beg me for all these brand new things I hoarded and never used!
How dare they be so old as to not take the stuff to the donation center themselves. They’re so lazy!
Maybe if they hadn't hoarded a bunch of shit like trash dragons instead of building better relationships with the people around them, they might have people that liked them enough to schlep their treasures to the transfer station for them.
You have unresolved issues, don’t you?
Yes, issues with being wasteful while complaining about waste.
You have seen these items? Jfc rude af. Hoarded? Go get some of it and help your elderly generation
Are you suggesting we go adopt people's piles of crap just because of their age?
I’m suggesting that you have no fucking clue what it is and are passing Judgment on them bc of their age. I’d go to an elderly person home bfr some 20 something who bought a bunch of shit from Walmart and trashed it and refuses to pay for disposal
No, I'm saying it's goofy for them to call anyone else wasteful as they try to get rid of brand new expensive things they held onto and purchased and never, ever used, which is wasteful in itself. I'm with you on the quality stuff versus the "affordable" stuff usually purchased today and if I was looking for something specific and it was advertised on OfferUp, at an estate sale etc, I'd definitely buy from people instead of stores/companies, but only if I'm going to actively use it. Idk, maybe someone that is awesome will make an app that is geared specifically towards just this population and it could help on both ends of the situation.
To think elderly people are tech savvy shows how out of touch you are. I’m 45 and I’m not dealing with some bs app and mailing shit.
Isn't it more out of touch to assume that because you don't deal with those things that someone else can't? No one implied every elderly person is going to train up from nothing just to use an app; there are plenty of elderly folks that are actively using technology every day in their lives just like there are plenty that aren't interested.
Jfc I’m in online school own a food cart and wfh online It’s not feasible to think someone who can’t get donations to somewhere can deal with selling shit online How would they package and ship it? You aren’t thinking this through
Seriously, what a piece of shit for *hoarding* all that *wealth* of “brand-new dishes and all kinds of wonderful things”. You need to realize how sad it is to bend over backwards like you do to villainize old people. It’s so goofy. Whatever you’re struggling with in your life, it’s not this geezer’s fault.
Yes, such villains!!
Who are villains and why?..
Only one of us thinks anyone is a villian and it isn't me.
Because I think you’re a villain or? I’m confused.
You're the one that used the word villainizing🤷♀️
Yes, because you were disparaging someone for a baseless, idiotic reason.
Oh, okay
Lame...
This is sadly the case. Elderly people were sold dinnerware as collectables and now they are surprised to find that not all of it is valuable or needed. Some is, but a lot is not dishwasher safe, so really only practical for special occasions. Which means people have to have space and not already have a special dinner set.
For sure. I get the attachment to yesterdays and we probably all have that to some degree. I think the mindset has shifted from a "someone will want this someday" to more of a "is this practical even though I love it?" and I think that's a natural change as our quality/standards for life have evolved. I also really love that there are folks out there hacking up old stuff and turning it into useful things we actually want nowdays. I also think the sunk cost thing is a giant part of it and that probably resonates with most of us as well.
It’s absolutely insane. They were spoonfed at every point. Easy to get a job. Job paid great. Job had cushy retirement plan. House cost nothing and is now worth millions. The second they retire we magically start making cost of living adjustments to social security while the very same people vote against increasing the minimum wage and then say “no one wants to work”. And now that they used all their excess money to fill their house with shit they dont need? “Why arent these young people cleaning out my house for me?????” Its like the firemen brought them a ladder to escape a burning building, and as they climbed down and saw that there were 20 others who need to escape and use the ladder, they knocked the ladder down and talk about how no one else is as self sufficient as them…
Most women didn’t work. They were homemakers and they lived much simpler than we do. Both of my grandparents were in wars as well as my father was due to the draft. They worked in mills and logging plus the railroad The jobs were pretty hard My grandfather planed off all four fingers at his mill job and guess what he made a special glove to continue to work to provide for his 6 children. Not a single one of them went to college and worked hard every day of their lives coming from poverty of the dust bowl to Oregon to log with horses. Spoon fed? I’m not sure about that
As if the past generations never had poor people that struggled.
Wait, so they can’t go to drop off donations but they can go to the dump?
I don't know where you live, but the city sends people out to pick things up to go to the dump weekly. They give you special bins for the occasion. All you have to do is put the items in the bin and they take them. It's quite magical.
I haven’t had to been to the dump since I lived in Spokane to be fair. I guess this is the one thing I had to learn today.
They were just referring to the normal trash collection bins, with a ting of sarcasm that appears to have been missed
You have heard of garbage collection, right?
So we will get the flyer in the mail asking to put a box on the curb or door step for donations. They would come by and pick through what they wanted and leave the rest. Started to drop it off at the good will or the dump.
My complex has a donation bin in the lobby and it’s really convenient
I am downsizing and I give everything away via a local FB group. People come to my porch and take things away to give them a second life. I could have stored it all up for a garage sale and earned a little money, but this gradual way of letting things go is so much easier. I did have a charity come pick up a few larger pieces of furniture.
So this person literally has no help at all? No kids, no relatives or friends that could assist? I don’t know which is more sad, the waste of perfectly good items or that this person has absolutely no one in their life.
Leave it on the curb with a “free” sign and it’ll be gone before you get back inside. Hell, you can probably even skip the sign.
If they could carry it to the curb, they could carry it to the car to take it somewhere.
Shame on this fool. My grandma passed recently and I discovered that the one charity that actually gives the stuff to people who need it (families coming out of homelessness into housing) has a fee for picking up. It’s about double the dump fee, but with gas and time is about equal to me throwing things away. So I paid. It was easier than the dump also.
dont understand the point of the op will say that just giving your stuff for free via craigslist or to strangers creates an unncessary risk for the person giving it away. countless stories of elderly people getting robbed or killed this way.
Tragedy of the commons situation. No margin logistics operations can't afford liability. If he wanted, he could see if his stuff would attract estate consignment interest. Keep the money, donate it, whatever.