Hmm I wonder who this "anonymous" author is. Sounds like someone hit the (transplanted) nail on the head.

I remember being a kid growing up in St Johns before people actually wanted to live their. We always put out a box with stuff, and most of the time people took it. At least for our family in our neighborhood, it was a tradition. That being said we usually waited until summer to put books and stuff out, there was no point in putting stuff out that would get damaged from the weather.

Hey one person's garbage is another person's "gold" so to speak. And this is not a Portland thing. It's an urban thing. People in the suburbs have yard sales or dump all of their stuff at Goodwill.

When I lived in Brooklyn and worked in Manhattan - anything that was put to the curb was immediately examined and taken. In Brooklyn it was on the curb, in Manhattan it was in the dumpsters or garbage areas where the wealthy lived. When I emptied my apartment to move to Seattle, it took 30 minutes for everything I put to the curb to be taken.

When I moved to Seattle, every apartment building at the time had a "free pile" area. The first building I lived in (for 4 years) had an excellent free pile. I got vintage dining sets (plates, bowls, etc.); a nearly new, fully functional coffee pot, an espresso maker (which I put back in the free pile when I realized I preferred other people making my espresso); pieces of furniture, CDs, etc. And there was always tons of clothing, too. Whatever was in the free pile did not remain in the free pile for long (who knows, maybe a smart tenant took tons of it to Value Village and sold it).

When I had to leave Seattle (due to serious illness), I had to get rid of my stuff very quickly . I gave many of my things to my friends and I sold all of my books, CDs, and DVDs. The rest I tried to sell and when an apartment sale yielded one purchase (I sold my TV), the rest went into the free pile. It was all taken. Even the manager of the building and his brother took items they wanted (luggage, filing cabinet, other stuff I can't remember now).

C'est la vie!

Christina Rae, I just want you to know I enjoy reading your comments, and I wish you well as you deal with your terrible illness.

I remember moving away from Baton Rouge Louisiana and we threw our old pillows in the dumpster. We literally watched as a lady pulled our sweaty old pillows from the dirty garbage and said "these people crazy throwin way good stuff like dis"

I was appalled, and it was my pillow

@7 Thank you, sincerely.

Wow! I never thought I'd receive such a passionate response for defending the free box! Hey jessdickenya, maybe you should just get some dick in ya!

I love free boxes, and they've always been somewhat of an accepted tradition. I've gotten amazing shit out of free boxes! Clothes, tapes, expensive boots. This is a dumb thing to complain about.