The gift that keeps on giving

One of the best features of the convent is its unique “Box of Free Stuff.”

Despite the pizza thieves that live among us, we have generous residents who leave little treasures behind when they check out and head back home. During major transition periods, such as now when the spring semester interns are leaving and the summer ones are arriving, the magical box seems to be constantly overflowing. So people like me, the more stable convent residents, take this unnecessary crap and hoard it in our tiny rooms.

Today I obtained a D.C. guidebook that appears unused. In recent weeks, I have also found a bottle of shampoo, a large bag of pretty ribbons, Ziploc bags, brown paper bags and sheets.

I debated on the sheets for a while because I could hear my mom telling me how gross it would be to take someone else’s sheets. (My mom refuses to eat after anyone, including her own children.) But the sheets looked so new and clean, and then my friend Michelle said she knew the girl they belonged to, so it wasn’t like they belonged to a total stranger … Right?

Well, I took them and washed them and then put them in a drawer in my room to hold until the next time someone visits me and needs them for an air mattress. Then today I decided they were really cute and put them on my bed. Whatever.

I also have seen other great items in the box, like cute shoes, clothes with tags still on and roller blades. I’m not sure if I’m still capable of roller blading, but I’ll let you know.