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Ah, Liam,
I thought my Flat Chat buddies were a little harsh too, but I know where they’re coming from.
To put it in context, once you have lived in or run strata schemes for a while, you get weary of people who park in the wrong places, leave stuff lying around for others to deal with and generally take advantage of others’ good nature. It doesn’t take long for the tolerance threshhold to wear thin.
Your pal is a numpty and deserves to lose the $700 (if not your friendship). I’m guessing your friend’s neighbours – or their building managers – were just trying to maintain a little order in their homes. To some, a mis-parked bike is the thin end of a wedge that leads to mayhem and chaos. You would be astonished to know how much stuff is just left behind by people – owners and renters – who have no further use for it but can’t be bothered to dispose of it properly.
Every couple of years my building does an audit of all the bikes in our storeroom. Every time up to a dozen bikes are discovered to have been abandoned by their owners who have either traded up or moved out (or both). Those bikes are then handed over to a charity that sends them overseas.
There are a number of charities that recycle bikes for use either here or abroad. So console yourself with the thought that your bike is probably making a big difference to someone else’s life right now.
And if anyone is interested in finding a re-bicycling (pun intended) program, click on THIS LINK to learn more