Things thrown away

for amazing reasons. Like "It won't start/turn/make a hole, so I'll just buy a new one."

I fully understand the situation on some items; it can very well cost more to fix something than it's worth, sometimes more than a new one costs(especially electronics). But some things...

While back Dad saw a small tiller/cultivator sitting at the curb, and a guy working in the yard. Asked about it: "It won't start. Yeah, it's yours, take it away." Dad grew up in a small town, born in the '30's, and the idea of tossing something like that, without bothering to try to fix it, just drives him nuts. He knew I didn't have one, but he'd probably have grabbed it anyway on the theory that, if he could make it run, somebody would be able to use it.

Repair took a grand total of maybe ten minutes. The choke was stuck in the closed position; got it loose, poured in some gas and it lit off. Gave it to me: "I think it'll run, but if not maybe you can find the problem." Which I didn't have to, as he'd already done it. I poured in some pre-mix, primed it, yanked the cord twice and off it went. No, not literally, I was holding onto it. The throttle is a bit sticky, which will be no big deal to take care of; and it does a fine job of tearing up the dirt.

Now, this wasn't a high-dollar item, but still: rather than spend a little time and dirty hands messing with it, the guy was tossing it and going to spend somewhere between $100-200 on a new one. Works out great for me, but kind of amazing.