German Pickers

Yesterday was a very special day in Kandern, Germany! They call it Sperrmüll! I would like to officially offer my definition of this holiday. I would like to refer to this holiday has Christmas for poor people. On Sperrmüll people all over the town put out belongings that they no longer wish to keep, or to use. This could be furniture, clothes, or even electronics. I could be anything! They put it by the roadside and everybody is free to pick up and keep what they want. Today was the official pick up day. Anything remaining by the road would be collected for recycling and the dump. Why do we not do this in the US?! Of course we have garage sales and people generally put things they don't want by the road for trash day, but this is totally different. It's like everybody has the chance to go shopping outside! Trust me.... I am not too proud to pick! (feel free to market t-shirts and bumper stickers with this awesome phrase).
So, after a few hikes all over the place last night, I obtained: two rugs, a hair dryer, a board game, 2 German books, some measuring cups, 2 buckets (for cleaning), 2 brooms, 2 scrub brushes, a leather satchel, and a pair of Head (brand name) skis!
I'm thinking the History channel needs to tap into some of this German picking action.
As you can imagine, there are people who jump from town to town when Sperrmüll comes, collecting what they can for second hand shops, etc.
I happened to have a confrontation with some of these collectors.
While I had my hands full with a rug and a bag of other collected items, a truck with two men pulled up and tried to ask me in German where I got my stuff. I told them I only spoke English and after trying again to get info from me, they left me alone.
Later last night I was in a different neighborhood looking through the piles when I noticed the same truck approaching. I just happened to have another nice rug in my arms and I didn't want to deal with the confrontation. However, I was not on a street that connected with any other part of the neighborhood. The other end of the street dead ended into the woods. In an attempt to avoid these men, I headed into the woods and ended up finding a trail I had just been shown that day. I'm so glad everything happened that way, because that led me to the neighborhood where I found my skis!