Recycling, Roma-Style

We shipped our RODTaC-- Ratty Old Dining Table and Chairs over here, thinking that we would find something lovely to replace it and then we would simply swap one for the other in the shipping back to the US. But no; didn't work out quite that way. 


We ended up buying an IKEA dining table from one of the other teachers for not much money, and  we never did get around to getting rid of the ratty old stuff. It's been hanging over my head and as the time to leave gets closer, I've been getting anxious about it. Last night we loaded the car up to bring the stuff down to the local recycling where the Roma men hang out. They're mostly harmless, but the first time I brought my recycling and they came over to the car to remove it from the back, it kind of freaked me out.  I also wanted to keep the bags that I had all my stuff in (they were the only bags I had at the time and I wanted to re-use them) but of course I couldn't explain that, and so- off they went with them.  Now, I save the returnable bottles and bring them there, happily handing over my bag. I thought this would be the perfect answer- bring our RODTaC down to the recycle bins and ask if they want them. 


We tried and failed the first time. No one was at the recycling center. They must have gone home for the night.  We drove back to the house and unloaded the whole lot of it back into the garage. This was not what I had in mind. 


Today we tried again, a little earlier than yesterday. We hoped they would be at their usual spot. They were not... Now what? We most certainly did not want to bring RODTaC back to the house AGAIN. But after my "illegal dumping" incident, I didn't want to leave it anywhere. It's clearly not recycling; it's trash. Every time we saw a guy in a truck, Kent thought we should stop and ask if he wanted it. I felt pretty sure the only people who would actually say yes were the Roma. 


I remembered that there were usually some guys standing on a corner trying to sell magazines while you stop at the light. We headed downtown, hoping for them to still be there. They were! I had practiced my line: "Szeretne ezeket székeket és az asztalra?"  (Would you like these chairs and this table?) I barely stumbled through "Would you like..." motioning into the back of the car and the man immediately said Yes, and motioned where we should pull over to unload it.  They were Very Happy to take our RODRTaC and we were very happy to be rid of them. And we made sure that our name was not on them anywhere. No more "illegal dumping" fines for me!


Added Bonus- Now when we threaten to sell our kids "to the Gypsies" we know right where to go, and that they'll take them!!