I dropped off about 100 lbs of books to Books Through Bars on Baltimore Ave which was easily mappable by determining the local maximum incidence of “Free Mumia” posters. They were a homespun operation in a small but clean space permeated with classical music and the rhythms of packaging tape both being applied and removed and the blank faces of those who’ve realized they are howling at the tide. Next, the Salvation Army received four or five 60 gallon tubs of clothing and housewares that hadn’t been used for almost a decade but whose disappearance may prove suspicious.
Me: I donated a whole bunch of housewares to the Salvation Army that mom had bought.
Dad: What if she asks what’s happened to them?
Me: I’ll tell her mice got into them.
Dad: That’s ridiculous, the mice live in the warm and food-filled first floor not the cold and empty attic. Sure, we pick off one or two of them that get lazy every month or so but on the whole their community is probably better off.