Think You Are Donating to Goodwill? Think Again!

I am not a morning person. Especially when I've been up until midnight the night before doing things around the house. So, I was proud of myself when I got up at the ungodly hour of 6 AM the other day. I had a full day ahead of me full of things that I needed to get done. You see, I had been cleaning house the day before and had some things that I put on EBay to sell while other things that were to bulky to sell on EBay so I was going to give them to Goodwill. And then there was a chair that I no longer wanted and a friend, who had helped me clean a bit, who wanted it. Since she did not have a car big enough to take it, I promised to drop it off at her house in the morning as I went to Goodwill which was near were she lived.

So at 6 AM I loaded my Jeep with the chair for my friend and the boxes bound for Goodwill. I was sure I would startle my friend by arriving at her house unannounced so early in the morning so I called her to let her know I was coming. I knew she would be up getting ready for work, but I wanted to make sure she would not be naked, just out of the shower when I arrived with her chair (actually, would that be such a bad thing? Hmm.). Anyway, she did not answer the phone nor the door when I arrived so I left the chair on her porch. It turns out she was in the shower when I called and when I arrived, so just a few minutes later I could have caught her in just a towel. Oh well, that was the first bit of bad luck I had that morning I guess you could say.

Back in my Jeep, I was on the way to Goodwill with boxes of Tupperware, board games, and assorted items of clothing that I know longer liked (or could fit into because of the gummi bear and Ben and Jerry's affinity I had acquired over the past few years). It was about 7:45 AM when I arrived behind the shopping center where the Goodwill store is located. There is an area behind the store when you drop off your items. There is usually someone there from Goodwill to accept your items and write a receipt for you to use at tax time. However, I had never arrived this early and noticed the Goodwill volunteer was not there. There was a sign posted saying the receiving person is there from 9 AM to 5 PM. It went on to say that outside of those hours you were free to leave your items; however, you would not get a tax receipt. There was also a sign stating that all items in the area was the property of Goodwill and anyone caught removing items would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Because I was not looking for a tax break I was fine leaving my items outside Goodwill unattended. Besides, the only thing I was looking for was a little good karma for helping my community. There was already a chair, a stack of old computer monitors, and a few boxes of assorted things behind the Goodwill store, presumably donated since 5 PM the day before. I got out of my car while leaving the engine running. When I got to the back of my Jeep and realized I needed to open it from inside because it was locked. Here comes bad luck moment number two of the day; the driver side door was now locked (along with all the doors on my car) with the keys inside and the engine running! Oh, and my gas tank was almost on empty (I had planed to stop at the gas station next). Panicked, I broke the law and removed a hanger from a shirt sitting outside Goodwill. Sure, I saw the sign saying I could be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but I hoped that the Judge would show me mercy since I was having "one of those days."

When I could not maneuver the hanger to pop the lock on my car I went to a nearby pay phone and called a friend collect (yes, my cell phone and my money were in my Jeep, too). The friend called a locksmith for me and then came down to pay for the locksmith. You see, you have to pay up front in case they get you in your car and then you have no money. So after I called my friend, I went back to my car and sat waiting for my rescue.

When I returned to my car, I noticed a man sitting in a nearby car doing nothing. I wondered if he saw me take the hanger? Was he the police waiting to swoop in and arrest me? For several minutes he sat there and it because obvious; he was waiting for me to leave. When it was clear that I was not leaving, he got out of his car and starting digging through the stuff piled outside of Goodwill. He took several computer accessories! Wow, isn't it bad karma to take from Goodwill? And speaking for karma, where's my good karma? I mean, I had good intentions by taking my things to Goodwill, yet I was now going to have to pay $40 to unlock my car!

Over the next thirty minutes or so, more people came by to help themselves to a bit of bad karma! There was a pickup truck with two men in it. The truck was loaded with "junk" so when they started cutting the wires off of the computer monitors and drove off with just the wires, I assumed they were professional junk collectors intent on selling the wires for profit. There was the older man with his dog that drove up and checked the dumpster and the stack of would be donations and took a few things for himself. Finally, there was the person who drove around in circles for several minutes (I assume he was waiting for me to leave so he could have his go at taking from Goodwill, too, before 9 AM). I didn't leave, not that I didn't want to, so he drove off.

Now, I don't know these people who I saw taking from the back of Goodwill, nor do I know their circumstances. I assume at least one of them was a professional looking to sell the items, or maybe they just needed monitor wires without the monitors?). Whatever the circumstances, I couldn't help think back to the times when me or my friends had left items at Goodwill outside of receiving hours. Did they actually make it into the store and sold for the good I intended? Or would I find my old Epcot Center shirt or my fondue set for sale down at the local flee market or junk shop because it had been stolen before Goodwill knew it was there?

Luckily, the locksmith opened my Jeep door right at 9 AM, and right as the Goodwill volunteer arrived to accept donations. I was sure that the items I was giving were actually going to Goodwill. And, upon finishing cleaning my house, I found a few more things that I wanted to donate. This time, however, I will not leave my keys in my Jeep nor will I leave my items at Goodwill anytime other than between 9 AM and 5 PM when someone from Goodwill is there to take them!