freecycle in person
I made another Freecycle pickup after work today - a plainer version of the lantern pictured. It should be good for camping at Pennsic. Freecycle pickups tend to be rather impersonal, with items left on porches or stoops. Some people are concerned about privacy (using email acounts that don't even reveal their names - although you've got their address, and that's often a good starting point on the web), and scheduling is easier if you don't have to meet. But I have met a few of the donors - the women who gave
dglenn a large tent in near-new condition, a woman with a really cool garden and unwanted candle holders (one is now a candy dish in my office), and a young woman with kitty litter her kitty didn't like.
As I was about to leave tonight's pickup, I chatted in the parking lot with a family out for a stroll. Mom said she'd never had a close look at a recumbent before, and the two boys thought it was really cool (of course), so I gave them the show and tell - the seat's different, but everything else is normal bike parts, just in different places; comfortable; efficient; safe. I like to send a pickup-confirmation email when I get home (the donors know the items are gone; I like to let them know they've gone where intended), and "Mom" turned out to be the previously-nameless freecycler. (The lantern was in a pannier when I was leaving, so they couldn't see that I had it.)