Outraged!

We walked to school yesterday, the two little people and I. In the driveway of a house we passed was a leather sofa. It looked in pretty reasonable condition. The kids wanted to know why it was there. I explained that the folks in the house had obviously got a new one and did not need this one any more. Inevitably, they asked me what would happen to it. Our little girl quickly suggested that maybe they would give it to someone who did not have a sofa. We all agreed that would would be a very good idea and walked on happily to school.
After lunch the three of us were walking back down the same street towards school. As we approached the same house the kids suddenly stopped with wide eyes.
"Mummy, that is the bin lorry. What are they doing with the sofa?"
We watched two men tip that perfectly good sofa into the mouth of that large chomping beast and I have to say I felt physically sick and really angry. The kids were pretty upset. There was not a lot that could be said. At 4 and 6 they get it. There are folks in this world who do not have as much as we do. We need to look after what we own and if we have something perfectly good that we do not need then it is good to look for someone who might have a need for it.
It is not hard, people. The same time it takes to call the council to arrange a pick up you could call at least three organisations who will come to your house and collect. Maybe the council should offer these numbers, you know right at the bit they tell you that the call is being recorded for training purposes they could say "if you are calling to chuck a perfectly good piece of furniture please call Bethany or Debra or the Salvation Army. The landfill don't need it and someone else could really do with it!"
You just do not know how much I wanted to knock their door. This week, though, I have to remember that I am a little more emotionally fraught. And maybe it was completely infested with fleas and there was just nothing that could be done about it.