Weirdness, People, and Freecycle

Freecycle is an organization that I use from time to time to give away stuff I don't need any more.  It is a great way to keep things that are still useful out of our local landfill and I use it a few times a year and have never had any weird experiences - until yesterday.  On Sunday, we decided to clear out some clutter that has been sitting around and wanting a new home.  A little elbow grease (and breaking of silly sentimental ties) later, we came up with an offer list of items for Freecycle.  I posted the items one after the other and sent them to the list.

As usual, the responses were quick (a guy on Commercial Drive using his Blackberry was the first to ping me back) and most of the things were claimed within the first 30 minutes.  Two people came over to our place right away to pick things up.  But, here is a weird e-mail I got in regards to the quick pickups:

I am just curious to know something. You just posted several items for free a little while ago, then you just posted "taken". Do people have wings?  How could they have picked them up that fast??

I have never had such a response to an offer for free stuff.  Getting this e-mail is just plain odd and makes me grumpy.  Yet, I can understand that using the Freecycle web site can be stressful.  One needs to be watching the e-mail system like a hawk because good stuff goes quickly.   If you snooze for even a minute or two - the thing you thought might be good to have is most likely gone.

I guess if you have a Blackberry, you might just have wings.

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about me

Shane Birley is a blogger, huge geeky nerd, web developer, poet, and creative writer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a partner at Left Right Minds, a web development, arts management, business blogging and on line marketing company.

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Just in case you didn't know, I co-wrote Blogging For Dummies! Before you send me any congratulations, questions, flowers, or blow me any number of kisses  - why don't you go buy ten copies and make me rich and famous.  

Or you could just buy a copy since it is a really good book and it has loads of great information for those of you out there who want to jump into blogging because it is fun and exciting.

podcasting

What else do I do? I talk out loud, record it, and post it on line. I chatter about all kinds of things. Some of the things are nerdy, some professional, and some of them are very much NSFW. Why? Because do them for myself and my non-work life. You can be the judge.