Scavengers

This afternoon, I finally got down to doing some decluttering of our overflowing bomb shelter (i.e. storeroom). I threw out a reasonably big pile of stuff - empty cardboard boxes, a faulty Avent steriliser (warranty over; not worthwhile to send for servicing), a 16-year-old kenwood mixer (found its blades to be rusty a few days ago), an ancient HP ink-jet printer, a bag of expired dog food (meant for pepe who used to come over here for an occasional overnight stay a loooong time back), a dusty but still stiff seahorse pillow, two old Qoo cushions, a decade-old high-end bell bike helmet (looks ok externally but safety cannot be compromised), a camelbak water reservoir (wouldn't dare to drink from it anymore!) plus other miscellaneous stuff...

Got husband to discard them at basement bin as the items were too bulky for the chute. He was more than happy to help me get rid of them cos he always felt I hoard on to too many things - more than I really need (which is quite true, I must admit :p).

In the evening, we set off to my IL's house for dinner. On our way to the basement carpark, we were shocked to see our junk scattered all over the lift lobby. Obviously, someone else had gone through our stuff earlier and had made a big mess of it. The boxes were opened up and the pillow and helmet were gone. I wanted to clear up a bit but husband refused to stop for me because he felt the stuff were 'dirtied' already and we shouldn't touch them.

I think the scavenger was DOWNRIGHT INCONSIDERATE. He/she could have just taken what he/she wanted and left the pile neatly behind. I feel so mad thinking about this.

When I told husband he should have dumped the stuff into the huge stepbin instead of leaving them at the side, he became upset at my comment and Mr Petty refused to speak to me after that! I was left wondering if he had done that deliberately cos there were times he had purposely thrown outside the bin so that foreign workers could come by and pick them up for their own use. I guess another reason he didn't wanna throw into the bin was because he didn't want to open the bin lid - the stench coming out can be quite unbearable at times.

Now, who would have thought there would be scavengers in a relatively new estate like ours? There are only 5-roomers and EA-ers in our cluster of blocks. I don't think these middle-class residents like to 'dirty' their hands by messing around with junk. I doubt the person stays here, probably just a passer-by - so creepy right? I kinda suspect it could be a foreign worker. Sorry but I can't help sterotyping here!

I remember there was once I did some spring-cleaning at my parent's place a long time back while I was still staying with them. We were staying in a 3-room flat in which my brother and I had lived all our lives. I had packed all my unwanted stuff nicely in boxes and placed them next to the rubbish bin beside the letterboxes. Minutes later, I went to the spot again to throw my second batch. That was when I saw my first batch of junk had been sprawled all over the floor. The scavenger must have been disappointed having found nothing valuable of sorts in my junk.

Message to the scavenger/s: If you wanna take my unwanted things, at least do it with some decency. Why must you litter the whole area and make it so unsightly for all to see?

I hope the block cleaner would come by and clear up the littered area soon. I go to the basement lift lobby at least twice a day (to wait for the Ying Ying's school bus) and I do not wish to be reminded of this incident again. :(