Curbside Pickup

May 14, 2012

There are probably a lot of great names for the plethora of treasures masquerading as junk on garbage day. We ended up with the phrase curbside pickup. It's not clever or catchy but the name just stuck.

This wonderful phenomenon doesn't exist in Nova Scotia. At least not very often. It seems that when something here hits the curb, it's for a reason. Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that people here keep and use their things until they are too far gone to save. But I still miss finding the treasures. We've been here for two and a half years and nothing. Not one curbside treasure.

My luck changed on Saturday night. I took the dogs for a walk at midnight and passed by a curious pile of stuff sitting at the curb. My eyes scanned the pile for a solid second before zeroing in on this baby. The cubby was still loaded with magnets. The tray for the magnets was still there and tucked neatly into place. The paper cards still tucked neatly in the drawer. My favourite is "I sleep in a big bed." That one kills me. Even the thought of a child finding this and enjoying it for years to come couldn't convince me to leave it. Like a bandit in the night, I snatched it up and walked away. It will probably be the highlight of my curbside pickup career in Nova Scotia and I don't regret taking it. Not one bit.