Such pretty little flowers. I [Michael] was a little surprised to see flowers this late in the year, but there they were, and I had the camera handy. They were tiny little things with blossoms only about a quarter of an inch across, but a flower is a flower no matter how small.
This month's newspaper article, Giving it away is better, generated some responses from my readers. I fielded three phone calls yesterday and today.
The article spells out my latest excursion to the dump and the reasons for it, and then goes on to suggest that Juneau could use a "free store" where people could take their excess serviceable items instead of throwing them away. The calls I received were favorable insofar as the callers agreed that Juneau residents don't have suitable options when it comes to getting rid of our extra stuff, but the suggestions they offered miss the point.
Two callers mentioned a website, Juneau freecycle, where people can post items they want to give away on the site. I have to ask: why? The Juneau Empire already has a "freebies" section where people can post their free or cheap giveaways. There's also Craigslist. These are all options, but they are limited options.
I mentioned our "free stuff" tent in my column. I also mentioned the reason for setting it up: so I wouldn't have to mind the store. That's the real point. If people have to devote time to giving their surplus stuff away (time waiting for phone calls, time waiting for people who have called to come over), then it isn't worth their time. The implication behind "free stuff" is that it is free for the person getting it, but that it should also free the person giving away the stuff from having to devote unnecessary time to the endeavor. If I have to spend ten or twenty hours trying to give things away, and if I put any kind of price on my time, I'm better off taking my surplus to the dump and being done with it.
Of course, while I would be in favor of having a free store in Juneau, and would probably shop there, I don't know that I'd have much time to volunteer toward making such a project work. That's one nice thing about writing a column. I can suggest ideas and hope somebody else steps up to put in the actual effort.
