I want to die

[DanaC]

I put two chairs out next to some rubbish yesterday afternoon. Within 40 minutes, in broad daylight, behind the wall that separates my flat from the pavement - they went! I was going to put my dining chairs out this morning in the hope of the same result but sadly it's raining and I think that wet chairs won't appeal to the scavengers as much.

I'm still shaking my head over it now. I was perfectly happy about it - I was disposing of them anyway, it's just the sheer effrontery. Funnily enough, I used to remark on the fact I had never seen people walking down the street with a chair until I moved to Leicester. I always assumed they were walking to a family event and bringing their own seating. Now I wonder if all of them were rubbish pickers instead.

I heard there were areas in France where people routinely leave their throwaway furniture outside their houses for people to take if they want it. The English word for it is apparently 'gleaning'. My brother finds all sorts of stuff like that, takes it home and strips it down, recovers it and so on. Only if it's obvious its being thrown....like if it's in a skip.