Dear Fellow Freecyclers,
The giver in a Freecycle transaction, that is the person who has posted the OFFER, has tremendous freedom in choosing who the taker, that is the person who picks up the OFFERed item, will be. Givers can request that interested people send them jokes and then they'll choose someone based on the joke they liked the most. Givers can request that interested people pick a number between 1 and 100 and whoever got the closest to the number they were thinking gets to be the taker. There are any number of relevant, irrelevant, sensible, or silly ways to choose a taker.
I make use of the 3-Day Courtesy Rule, a day that allows both the giver and the taker three days to sort out a convenient pick-up time, by requesting that interesting people send me times that are convenient for them to pick-up during a three day span (a time frame for each day). I disregard responses that neglect to include that information. I also give some time to allow for digest freecyclers to see the post and respond. I never respond to "Is this still available?" because, if it weren't, a TAKEN post would be distributed and the OFFER would no longer exist. Having these time frames is valuable to me when I have a No Show because I can choose a back-up quickly based on the times already provided. I know who is available that evening or the next morning.
When a loved one passed away, we inherited a collection of items that were popular during the 1980's but are worth nothing now. My husband is choosing one to keep for memory but we have no use for the full collection. Still, despite being worthless, based on their '80's fame these items can be found on eBay listed anywhere from $100 to $1500. No bids, mind you. These poor souls list and re-list these worthless things until someone foolishly buys them thinking they can turn around and sell them for profit. In truth, not even the scrap yards will take them to melt down the bronze. They are worth only the aesthetic for those who enjoy what they are.
So, when I posted the OFFER, I was cautious of the reason people may want them. I knew there would be people who wanted to make money based on a shallow Google search. A gift for an elderly father is the best possible scenario for a new home for these things and so I chose the taker accordingly.
I have received some very desperate and pushy multiple requests for pick-up from individuals who reply to every OFFER and I know are only trying to make money. They would have made none. In fact, the ones who have repeatedly messaged me to push their desire for the items, in a tone that suggested I was doing them wrong by not responding, go on my list of people I will never allow to take an OFFER.
Remember, Fellow Freecyclers. No one is entitled to anything.
As Always,
Me.
Showing posts with label manners are lacking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manners are lacking. Show all posts
Friday, December 13, 2013
Monday, October 29, 2012
Dear Fellow Freecyclers,
PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING ALL CAPS FOR YOUR POSTS TO YOUR FREECYCLE GROUPS BECAU... <*ahem*>
Please refrain from using all caps for your posts to your Freecycle groups because regardless of whether all caps is interpreted as yelling or a sign of psychological instability, it is annoying for everyone to read. Your post may attract special attention but not the kind of positive attention that would reward you with the item you want. Studies have shown that comprehension of bodies of text written in all capital letters is lower than that of text written in with grammatically correct capitalization or even that of bodies of text written in all lower case.
There are unhinged people on Freecycle lists. These are people who steal, who harass other Freecyclers and who generally cause problems. Even if we assume that the Freecycler who writes in all caps is not any kind of threat or danger to anyone, the use of all caps implies an urgency or importance to the Freecycle post that trumps all other Freecycle posts. This is against the rules and the spirit of Freecycle.
So, for the love of all, just write like a normal, critical thinking human being.
As Always,
Me.
PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING ALL CAPS FOR YOUR POSTS TO YOUR FREECYCLE GROUPS BECAU... <*ahem*>
Please refrain from using all caps for your posts to your Freecycle groups because regardless of whether all caps is interpreted as yelling or a sign of psychological instability, it is annoying for everyone to read. Your post may attract special attention but not the kind of positive attention that would reward you with the item you want. Studies have shown that comprehension of bodies of text written in all capital letters is lower than that of text written in with grammatically correct capitalization or even that of bodies of text written in all lower case.
There are unhinged people on Freecycle lists. These are people who steal, who harass other Freecyclers and who generally cause problems. Even if we assume that the Freecycler who writes in all caps is not any kind of threat or danger to anyone, the use of all caps implies an urgency or importance to the Freecycle post that trumps all other Freecycle posts. This is against the rules and the spirit of Freecycle.
So, for the love of all, just write like a normal, critical thinking human being.
As Always,
Me.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Dear Fellow Freecyclers,
If you have not been prescribed a medication, you cannot legally take that medication. This is Legal 101, Medical 101 and Freecycle 101. Sometimes people do it, anyway. Sometimes it's not a big deal for many reasons... maybe it's the exact same medicine that is prescribed to them but they're just taking a pill from the amount prescribed to someone else (but it's the same pill), maybe practical knowledge makes it obvious that it's okay to take that medicine for that particular condition... whatever the reasonably justification it's still illegal. It's just as illegal as giving someone a controlled substance that a physician would never allow them to take. The circumstances are different but the law governing both situations is the same. You cannot take medication that has not been prescribed to you.
In light of this law, Freecycle does not allow freecyclers to provide prescription medication to each other. The organization and individual lists simply do not have the authority to subvert the law. The same goes for alcohol, tobacco, firearms and pornography.
I can hardly believe the ridiculous OFFERs that inspire these posts.
Furthermore, if you are caught making this illegal mistake, do not throw a temper tantrum at the person who kindly and respectfully let you know. If you are the list moderator who approved the post with this illegal item, do not lecture the person who kindly and respectfully let you know about minding their own business.
Next time, I call the police.
As Always,
Me.
UPDATE:
I have been kicked off of that particular Freecycle list. I was also harassed and threatened by the Freecycler who tried to dish out illegal prescription medications to the public to a point where I had to recite her address back at her and threaten to call the police for her to back off. People can be ugly. And, remember kids, Just Say No!
If you have not been prescribed a medication, you cannot legally take that medication. This is Legal 101, Medical 101 and Freecycle 101. Sometimes people do it, anyway. Sometimes it's not a big deal for many reasons... maybe it's the exact same medicine that is prescribed to them but they're just taking a pill from the amount prescribed to someone else (but it's the same pill), maybe practical knowledge makes it obvious that it's okay to take that medicine for that particular condition... whatever the reasonably justification it's still illegal. It's just as illegal as giving someone a controlled substance that a physician would never allow them to take. The circumstances are different but the law governing both situations is the same. You cannot take medication that has not been prescribed to you.
In light of this law, Freecycle does not allow freecyclers to provide prescription medication to each other. The organization and individual lists simply do not have the authority to subvert the law. The same goes for alcohol, tobacco, firearms and pornography.
I can hardly believe the ridiculous OFFERs that inspire these posts.
Furthermore, if you are caught making this illegal mistake, do not throw a temper tantrum at the person who kindly and respectfully let you know. If you are the list moderator who approved the post with this illegal item, do not lecture the person who kindly and respectfully let you know about minding their own business.
Next time, I call the police.
As Always,
Me.
UPDATE:
I have been kicked off of that particular Freecycle list. I was also harassed and threatened by the Freecycler who tried to dish out illegal prescription medications to the public to a point where I had to recite her address back at her and threaten to call the police for her to back off. People can be ugly. And, remember kids, Just Say No!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Dear Fellow Freecyclers,
This is a template of how the typical freecycle communication pattern should go:
Freecycler 1 posts an OFFER.
Freecycler 2 replies to say that s/he would like that item.
Freecycler 1 responds in agreement, asks when Freecycler 2 can pick-up.
Freecycler 2 responds with the time that the item can be picked up.
Freecycler 1 then provides Freecycler 2 with the address so the item can be picked up at the specified time.
Freecycler 2 picks up the item at the specified time.
Freecycler 1 posts the item as TAKEN.
Communication should not go like this:
Freecycler 1 posts an OFFER.
Freecycler 2 replies to say that s/he would like that item.
Freecycler 1 responds in agreement, asks when Freecycler 2 can pick-up.
Freecycler 2 never responds.
What is wrong with those people? It's getting worse. The bigger the Freecycle communities are becoming, the more people are wasting other people's time with pointless bids for items they clearly have no intention of ever picking up if chosen to receive the item. It used to be an occasional annoyance. Now, it is the majority of the responses.
If you're going to Freecycle, then Freecycle. Otherwise, shut up.
As Always,
Me.
This is a template of how the typical freecycle communication pattern should go:
Freecycler 1 posts an OFFER.
Freecycler 2 replies to say that s/he would like that item.
Freecycler 1 responds in agreement, asks when Freecycler 2 can pick-up.
Freecycler 2 responds with the time that the item can be picked up.
Freecycler 1 then provides Freecycler 2 with the address so the item can be picked up at the specified time.
Freecycler 2 picks up the item at the specified time.
Freecycler 1 posts the item as TAKEN.
Communication should not go like this:
Freecycler 1 posts an OFFER.
Freecycler 2 replies to say that s/he would like that item.
Freecycler 1 responds in agreement, asks when Freecycler 2 can pick-up.
Freecycler 2 never responds.
What is wrong with those people? It's getting worse. The bigger the Freecycle communities are becoming, the more people are wasting other people's time with pointless bids for items they clearly have no intention of ever picking up if chosen to receive the item. It used to be an occasional annoyance. Now, it is the majority of the responses.
If you're going to Freecycle, then Freecycle. Otherwise, shut up.
As Always,
Me.
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