A Good Old Fashioned Rant!

So this post has nothing to do with traffic exchanges and even less to do with online tricks/tactics.  Sometimes you just need to rant!!

I am getting so fed up with Freecycle that I could just spit. I've had 5 no-shows in the last few weeks, 2 from a repeat offender (the same person).

Part of the problem is that many of these people know that I am not employed (nor do I have children that I need to shuttle hither and yon) and therefore I am home most (but NOT all) of the time.

They seem to think that being unemployed and childless equals 'I have nothing to do but wait for them to deign to show up to pick up whatever it is I am giving away.'

I beg to differ. IMO, just because I am unemployed and childless does NOT mean that my time is less valuable than theirs, or that my errands are less important than theirs.

This situation is being exacerbated by the fact that I no longer have my own transportation and must rely on the local bus system or shank's mare (walking) for everything I need to do.

Most of the freecycle people already know that I don't have transportation.

What they may not know is that the buses only run every 40 minutes on weekdays.  On Saturdays they run every 80 minutes, and on Sundays they don't run at all!!

And they would have to be stone stupid to not know that it's been raining (sometimes hailing or snowing also) off and on every day now for a week or longer. With the wind blowing sideways LOL even an umbrella is useless in keeping you dry.

Last night I received an email from someone that wanted the 20 mens' handkerchiefs I had posted a few days ago (there had already been 2 no-shows for these items). I replied to her and we agreed she would pick up the items this morning.

She said she'd be here a little before 9 am. I had already informed her that I had to leave shortly after 9 to go grocery shopping and to the bank (I ended up only doing grocery shopping but thats neither here nor there).

At 9:25 am I put the items she was picking up in a plastic grocery bag (to protect them from the rain and wind) and hung them on my front screen door knob, emailed to tell her that I had done so, and left for the 9:39 am bus which I catch across the street (a 5 minute walk) from my house.

I got home around 11:00 am and shortly after that the skies opened up. It has been raining and windy for nearly 8 hours now; as I type this its not quite 7:00 pm and the rain has just now stopped  (but for how long is anybody's guess).

I knew I had a paid training for my new online job at 2:30 pm so I wanted to be done with shopping and home by 11:00 am; as it turned out she had to run lunch money to her child and forgot totally about me.

If I had waited for her (she finally turned up around noon) not only would I have missed the training this afternoon but I would have also gotten soaked and chilled to the bone--thats an excellent recipe for a cold if not pneumonia!!.

I love the concept of Freecycle but am wondering if some of the members really understand the concepts of courtesy, punctuality, and communication.