You want it? It’s free!

“You can’t even give it away!” Remember when you heard people say that? If you do, it was a long, l-o-n-g, l o-o-o-o-n-g time ago.

Geesh! It’s true. You really can’t even “give it away.” Unless, of course, it’s like new, in perfect condition, in some cases never used and in working order.

Oh, and it has to be on the list of “acceptable items.”

Is it any wonder landfills are overflowing?!

Is it any wonder that donating to “charities” has become an endurance of insult? These agencies ostensibly solicit excess household goods so that, we are told, they can rehabilitate people and, in the process, raise money for the charity.

Sounds good, but I don’t believe it anymore. The charities are imbued with a sense of entitlement. They’re impossibly elite in their attitude toward people who want to give away things rather than just throwing them in the trash.

OK. I admit it. I’m venting. But I’m not alone in the frustration I feel and, after yesterday, the anger too.

Here’s the scene: After years and years – too many, I admit – I got into the mind-boggling job of clearing out my garage. Since there was not a spot left to put anything else, I had no choice. (Oh for the East Coast houses with attics and basements!)

So I got started and, in the process, lots of stuff got thrown out, other things distributed to varied and sundry family members who should have had them years ago, other items given to friends who would find them useful and then, there was the give-away file.

I should say, there is the give-away pile.

That’s because when I went to the Goodwill Industries donation location, I was barely out of the car before I was met by an individual who looked thru the vehicle window and announced they don’t take hula-hoops. I asked “Why, it’s brand new?” The only answer I got from this person was “Don’t take them.”

I think it was a woman, but I couldn’t tell. The person looked like a man, dressed like a man and talked in grunts, mainly saying, “Can’t take this.”

“Rude and arrogant” is the only way to describe my treatment. As I unloaded the car, with a whole variety of items which were clean, in working order and perfectly usable by people with a need, this person pawed through each box, piling up what wasn’t acceptable.

Two new plastic camping ponchos were refused.

I tried to find out the guidelines, but this person ignored me. Not a human look, not a smile, not an acknowledgment and, at the end, not even a “thank you” for my donation.

The kicker was a wood shoeshine bench. The top opens to hold polish and brushes. It was white and had a couple of chips in the paint at the edges. It was turned down because “it was chipped and no one would want it.”

When I said that all it needed was a coat of paint, I was told it had to be ready to sell.

Forgive me, isn’t it Goodwill that advertises they hire people in need, teach them to repair things so they can learn skills and earn money to support themselves?

I guess they don’t do paint.

I was steaming. It was the last time I’ll ever give anything to Goodwill. But I should have learned from the last experience with three bathroom sinks. Two enamel on steel with one chip in one and one porcelain in excellent condition.

I couldn’t give them away. I called Goodwill, Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul. They all said no. I called every single charity in the yellow pages – they all said no.

One place suggested Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy Carter’s outfit that builds houses for poor people. Sounded like a good prospect. They also said no. I asked why and was told that these folks “are getting new houses and they wouldn’t want ‘old sinks’ in them.”

Wow! Poor people get new houses and the rest of us have to buy houses that other people lived in!

I gave the sinks to my plumber – he found a home for them.

A friend of mine is trying to find a home for a used leather couch. He can’t give that away either.

Something’s wrong. This attitude of entitlement is out of control. It’s turned into reverse snobbery by people who’ve accomplished nothing in their lives that dis people who have.

Oh, that giveaway pile is at the curb with a “Free Stuff” sign. The hula-hoop went first … what’s left, goes to the landfill. So much for charity.