WTF?!

Time for a bit more cathartic blogging, otherwise I'm not going to get to sleep tonight. I don't really know why I've let this idiot annoy and upset me, but here's the story:

There's a group called Freecycle, and they've set up a local group here in Cape Town. They hang out at Yahoo! groups, and the basic concept is that if you have something you don't want or need anymore, well, there's someone else who does. So instead of trying to sell or swap stuff, it's a forum where you can give stuff away to anyone who asks for it. They tend to be biased towards charities and non-profit organisations, understandably, but anyone can take stuff.

The way it works is, if you have an item to give away, you send a message to mailing list with the subject line "OFFER: (item), (location)", and then whatever describing the item in the message itself. People then e-mail you, you decide who the item goes to, and between the two of you you sort out how to get it to them. When it's gone, you send a message with the subject line "TAKEN: (item), (location)", so that everyone knows it's gone and they shouldn't bother asking for it.

So fine, in theory. Since I bought the recliner, I've had a spare armchair sitting around taking up space that isn't really there, so I thought I'd put it on Freecyle. I must say, I got an amazing response - easily 20, 25 people asking about it! I gave it to a couple who run an ARP&P branch (an association for the aged) who wanted it so that the older people who come to the office at least have somewhere comfortable to sit while they're waiting. I thought it was a good cause . So they came to pick it up tonight, and it all went very well, and really, I'd recommend Freecycling if you want to get rid of stuff that someone else might find useful. So I post the taken message to the mailing list, e-mail all the people who e-mailed me, and feel like I've maybe done a good thing, and saved myself the hassle of getting rid of the chair to boot.

Except that then I dial up a bit later, to find two e-mails from some guy in reply to my taken message - the one says, "Moderators, are you going to do anything about this?!" (that may not be an exact quote, but that's the gist of it), and the other says, "You know, nevermind. Unsubscribe!".

WTF?!

I just don't get what the guy's problem is. I didn't do anything wrong! If you're going to complain about someone, at least tell them what you're complaining about! So I e-mailed him back, asking what the problem is, and either he'll come back to me or else I guess the moderators might reply, but I really don't need this ... I did something nice, gave a chair to a non-profit organisation, and I get hassled about it? I don't know why this is bugging me so much, but it really is. I guess I'll just have to wait for his reply.

That aside, I'd really recommend Freecycle - just try to avoid falling foul of the idiots.