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The swap box and the panhandler

Heart Shaped Swap Box at Bank and SecondWe were walking up Bank Street on Sunday when I spotted a new swap box on the other side of the street at Bank & Second. GC was impressed with my eagle eyed powers of observation, and said so as I bolted into Bank Street traffic to get to it.

Inside the swap boxDid you know the Swap Box got itself on the voters’ list this past federal election? Oh yes it did! But it did the right thing and spoiled its ballot.

There was a yellow highlighter in the heart-shaped swap box, along with a cookie. We didn’t need either one so we left them there. We didn’t have any treasures to leave in the swap box either, just a little package of peanut butter. In it went. Then I took a few pictures and we continued on our way.

But wait, not so fast!

A panhandler who was sitting on the sidewalk about 10 feet from the swap box started berating us. He accused us of taking everything out of the swap box and putting nothing in. We tried to explain that we didn’t take anything and we did leave something, but he wasn’t having any of it. We finally turned and walked away, leaving him to his ranting accusations.

It bugged me a bit at the time, but later I enjoyed the irony of being yelled at by a panhandler for abusing a swap box. Me, the Swap Box Project’s biggest fan, and loyal defender of panhandlers and underdogs everywhere.

Speaking of swap boxes…

For months now I’ve been listening to my neighbour’s alarm clock go off at 5:00 every morning, because our bedrooms share a common wall. A few days ago GC said “Don’t you think it’s odd that we hear her alarm so clearly? Maybe it’s not her alarm. Maybe it’s something in your house, not hers.”

Impossible, I thought.

Basket of swap box treasures, including a 5 AM beepy thingBut GC can be persistent, especially at 5:00 in the morning. He located the offending beeper in my art studio in a basket full of treasures accumulated from swap boxes over the months. I will be transforming these treasures into a piece of swap box assemblage art in the near future. I suppose this means the swap box assemblage art will beep every morning at 5:00, which means it will be multimedia swap box assemblage art.

By the way, if you haven’t done so yet, you can still vote for the Swap Box Project as the best new architectural addition to Ottawa in 2008.

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6 comments to The swap box and the panhandler

  • grace

    I have voted for all the goooooooooooood stuff.

    g

  • That GC is a determined fella!

  • XUP

    Maybe the pandhandler was playing Backwards Day? So he was really thanking you for leaving something without even taking anything.

  • Mo

    I think its kinda nice he was being protective of the artist’s swap box. In his own extremely difficult and ornery way he was trying to keep the integrity of the swap box spirit alive.

  • Guy

    Have you seen the swap box at (NW side Bank and Sunnyside)
    I noticed it yesterday.

  • Yay Grace, good work!

    Woodsy, he is. I’m always just happy to hear the 5AM beeping and know it’s not for me.

    XUP – you’re kinda twisted, you know that? That’s what I like about you.

    Mo, that’s such a good way to look at it. Now that I think about it, you’re absolutely right. Thank you.

    Guy, I have not! Thanks for the heads up. I know Bonnie’s been out searching for swap boxes too, so maybe she’ll go check that one out.