I was taking the trash out this weekend behind my Cleveland Circle condo building, when I noticed some shelves, a mattress, a bunch of framed prints, a couple of stacks of clothing, all leaning against our trash barrels. In my building, a combination of units that haven't changed much since 1924 and overpriced renovated units housing Longwood transients for a few months at a time, this isn't an infrequent occurrence at the end of the month. At the end of every month since I've lived in Brighton, I've found myself trying to understand the mindset of people who leave a houseful of almost new items for the trash collector when they move. I mean, I'm finally at a point in my life where if I moved, getting $20 for my couch is hardly worth the hassle. But the idea of leaving a perfectly usable item for the landfill is just unfathomable to me when so many nonprofits will come and pick things up with a phonecall or e-mail.
This month it really crossed the line though. As I was glancing at the pile of housewares to see if anything interesting jumped out at me, I saw...
...an iMac.
Yes. There was an actual living breathing iMac sitting out there amongst the boxes and trashbags and furnishings. I actually waited a day before grabbing it, just to see what would happen. I wanted to make sure it had really been placed by the trash, and I also wanted to prove what I suspected, which is that dozens of people would walk by and just leave it there. Which they did. So I grabbed it. I know of several repair places that will give me $200 for the thing on the spot.
What's next, people leaving their old worn-out cash behind the building?
