thirty-eight cents

I finally took in my old bicycle to recycle for scrap metal yesterday. I now know where all those homeless guys with huge shopping carts overflowing with aluminum cans are headed early in the morning. The janky-ness of my bike, which had reasserted itself as I attempted to extricate if from its grave in the closet seemed to fade as I rolled it up onto the scale at Alliance Metals.

The place was like 1000x louder than a rock concert with all the clanging of metal cans being poured onto a conveyor belt to God knows where. I suspect it also stank something awful, but I tried not to notice and was grateful for my lack of a strong sense of smell. I felt a bit silly strolling up there listening to Spanish tapes on my iPod surrounded by gritty-looking (but pleasant enough) people who recycled for a living.

The guy in front of me got something like $11 for a metal lamp stand, but when I brought my bike up to be weighed the woman at the scale tilted her head asked if I was sure I didn't want to keep it. I explained that the pedals and brakes were broken and that the tires were flat, which she accepted reluctantly, but honestly my bike had never looked so new and healthy as it did in that loud loud hall of dirty, used up bits of this and that.

She said she could give me thirty-eight cents for it. Probably because it was steel rather than aluminum and because they'd have to separate out all the non-metal parts before they could turn it into something new. I did feel a little bad for it and wondered if I couldn't have at least Tried leaving it out on the street or posting it on Craigslist for 75¢ as a bicycle, rather than scrap metal. But what's done is done.

In the meantime, I have fallen in love with all the new space in my closet. Just moments ago I was dancing my heart out in there to that riff at the beginning of Day Tripper that's been stuck in my head since Steven taught me how to play it earlier today. I've only stopped to see if I couldn't put on some actual music, and I must now go off in search of whatever Beatles songs I can dig up.