Wednesday, July 13, 2022

The Bike

 This morning, we got up and went for our walk. I've set up a pedometer to track the distance and steps. It will be nice to track our progress. 

On the way back home, a garbage truck was backed up and loading a bunch of things into the truck. Furniture, wall decor, a bird feeder. It was a big pile of stuff and I really couldn't tell you all the stuff that was in that pile, but it was a lot of things. 

Tim and I both stopped in our tracks when they lifted an upside down diningroom table. Beneath it was a girls bike, with a snazzy pink paint job and pink rims. It looked in very good shape. 

"That's a shame," I said. "There are plenty of kids in this town without a bike." 

The garbage man said, "Take it, then. Take it and find someone to give it to. If you know anybody that can use any of this stuff, take it." We were not hauling it all home. We just couldn't, but the bike bothered me. Most of the children in our community live in poverty. I looked at Tim. He'd be the one checking it over, and he had quite a list of things for the day. 

He said, "We're taking that bike." 

He rode it the rest of the way home. It was funny to see him riding a 20 inch pink bike, but by the time, we got home, he said, "There's nothing wrong with this bike. It needs air in the tires and the chain needs some lube." He quickly went to work on it and gave it a bit of a clean up while he was at it. I took a picture and posted it on facebook. It was snapped up quickly. 

I'm glad that we saved it from the dump. 


32 comments:

  1. You both have good hearts. I'm glad you saved it from the dump too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was such a small thing, to offer it for free. It cost us just a few minutes.

      Delete
  2. What a wonderful thing you two did! Hooray for good people in the world! Linda in Kansas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There has never been a more important time to be a good person. Seriously.

      Delete
  3. So many things are needlessly thrown away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are a wasteful nation, that's for sure.

      Delete
  4. What a shame you couldn't salvage more. It sounds like a lot of good stuff was being dumped. I wonder why? I am so glad a child will have a bike thanks to the two of you. Bikes are so important for kids.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea why. The problem was, the dining room table, for instance. It was disassembled. We couldn't be sure it had all its pieces. The stuff in boxes would have required going through all the boxes to find out what it was and whether it could be salvaged. There were all sorts of things that I'm not even sure what they were.

      Delete
  5. I can't believe how much decent stuff is just thrown away these days. We grew up with second hand and hand-me-downs and felt very lucky if we ever jad anything new.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We just never really thought about it as children, did we? I mean, this was an exceptionally nice bike.

      Delete
  6. Perhaps you could start a bicycle charity for people who can't afford them? Oh to see the joy on the child's face on receipt of your rescued bicycle Debby.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We don't really have a place to set this up right this minute, but it certainly would be something worth discussing with others.

      Delete
  7. I often wonder why people throw things away which could easily be passed on by other means. What you both did was very kind. Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. Quite honestly, the Goodwill is just down the road, a mile and a half away. How hard is it to drop those things off there?

      Delete
  8. Good for you! It is a shame to see so much being thrown out..and often enough being intentionally damaged before being dumped in the rubbish skip

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't understand it, myself. Tim just loaded up a trampoline frame and hauled it home. The circle is going to be assembled in halves, and used as the framework for a polytunnel (ala Northsider Dave's)

      Delete
  9. What a pleasing story - a little girl somewhere is happy I hope.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Debby couldn't help but smile at the idea of your guy on that bike, but this was sweet & awesome to read--good for you guys. :^)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was quite a funny sight to see. He was completely unselfconscious about it.

      Delete
  11. Good for you! I once saw a news story about a man who saved bikes from the dump and gave them away to anyone who needed one. I remember that first bike I had as a kid. Those were good times!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd like to see if we couldn't set something up like that here. We don't have the space for it at our house, but...

      Delete
  12. Thanks for rescuing that bike and sharing the story! It lifted my spirits!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is the small things that are the day brighteners, isn't it?

      Delete
  13. Will they just do that kind of pick up? It would cost about a million bucks in extra stickers here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here, we have at least three garbage companies that pick up in the area: Fitch, Veolia, and Raccoon. We've never had a big pickup, so I'm not sure how it works, actually. I suppose we'd get extra tacked on to our bill. I've never heard of 'tickets' though.

      Delete
  14. Bravo! Good for you! It drives me crazy to see perfectly good stuff thrown out as trash. I just don't understand people.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am glad this is the first blog I visited after my depression sabbatical because I needed some good news. Thank you, Debby.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so very sorry that you're dealing with the 'black dog'. It's a struggle for me as well. I need to keep my focus very small sometimes.

      Delete
  16. It's sad that so much good stuff is thrown away. The Micro manager has brought home about a dozen bikes over the years some needed a lot of work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for the micromanager! She was probably trying to keep you off the streets. :)

      Delete

I'm glad you're here!

Weary

I am sure that everyone has seen the video of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. I lived in Baltimore for a couple years while my...