Get bent, you fucking asshole.
You don’t just give away other people’s shit without asking them first. I don’t give a fuck if it’s their big ball of useless belly button lint, you keep your hands off other people’s stuff and ask before giving it away.
In this case, a big box of my books were given away to goodwill.
“I didn’t know you wanted to keep them!”
That’s why you ASK. :rolleyes:
“Go get them back right now. No, I don’t give a shit if they’re spread half-way across the country and you have to PAY for them. They were not yours to give, and now you’re getting them back”
Then I’d probably threaten to file theft charges.
Had you finished colouring them all in?
Who did this?
Roommate? Parents? Spouse?
Roommate: I break his fuckin’ arm. Then, when he isn’t expecting it, I give away a whole load of his shit. That’ll teach the son of a bitch.
Parents: I cry a lot.
Spouse: I attempt to engage in dialogue, seeking better mutual understanding.
(This may explain why I don’t have a roommate, parents, or a spouse…)
How I would feel depends on whether I lived where the books were being stored.
I moved out of my parents’ house in my early twenties, moved back in briefly when I lost my job at 35, and moved out less than a year later – a decade ago. If I have any books in my father’s house he is welcome to sell, donate, discard, or burn them at his whim. I think I’ve takehn them ALL out; if I haven’t they are disbanded.
If my wife were to throw out books that I own now, stored in the home that we share without asking me, it would be… distressing.
My guess is the butler in the library with a candlestick.
Which will shortly be shoved up his ass most likely.
And were they in your space? Frankly, after a period of time, the books left behind by my brother in law in my basement when he moved I sent to Goodwill. I didn’t have room to keep his stuff and mine, mine is going to take priority, and he never came to get them. Likewise, when my kids move out, after some period of time, the possessions they don not choose to relocate are mine to dispose of.
Full story: My books were at my apartment. My parents have been trying to get rid of them for years since they’re not readers and think all books do is take up space in a person’s home.
Anyway, I brought a big box of already read ones over about two weeks ago because my parents were having a garage sale. I didn’t want to sell any of my books, but my mom talked me into it and gave me a bit of a guilt trip since they’re having money problems right now and lots of unpaid bills. Money is tight for them, so I begrudingly agreed, but with the caveat that I wanted to keep any unsold ones.
Well, the garage sale day came and to my delight, they said only two books were sold. Nice, so I still had most of the box left then. But then I called mom today, asking when I can pick the box up again.
“Oh, we gave the rest to goodwill.”
“What?!”
“What? I thought you didn’t want them. You were willing to sell them, after all.”
Arrgghhh, but I told her barring none get sold, that I wanted to keep the rest.
Was it so hard to, you know, actually ASK before giving he rest away to a donation place? A simple “Hey, none of these sold, is it okay to give them to a charity?” was so impossible?
I maintain it shouldn’t make a difference if I gave them to the garage sale or not, a person should ask pending any further or different action taken on one’s stuff, especially books.
I probably wouldn’t have been as annoyed if it had been anything BUT books. You want to give away other shit of mine without asking? Fine. I can forgive it. But not my books. I didn’t even want to sell any in the first place and I made it clear.
Okay, rant over.
Lots of books my kids own are still in my house, but I sure as hell won’t donate them without asking and giving them a chance to get all the other stuff they have here.
My wife knows that my books are a collection, not a pile, so if she gave some away I’d either look for a divorce lawyer or a shrink. Or make sure I’m not dead, because that is the only time she is allowed to get rid of them without asking.
Ain’t going to happen, though.
After reading fuller story by OP:
Considering that you were willing to sell out your books by selling them - books are people - you should be only mildly upset. But be sure to take the tax credit for the donation. I’d think the default would be getting rid of them, not taking them back unless you said otherwise.
Only I did say otherwise, before the sale. At least twice.
They weren’t your moon landing conspiracy books were they? 
Just remind them that you’ll be picking the nursing home.
<tips hat>
I’d be completely fucking pissed off. “Why did I still have them?”
Oh, wait. You gave them to your folks for a garage sale? Fuck it, that’s on you. If you wanted to keep them, you do that by keeping them.
They are your parents. Perhaps they did not hear your instructions about keeping those that did not sell (sort of an odd condition IMHO).
They may have had a lot of stuff to give to Goodwill after the garage sale. Your stuff was just part of it. Things can get confusing.
Let it go.
Sorry, I’m not going to be convinced that it’s incredibly impossible to do a simple “hey, these ones didn’t get sold, you mind if we give them to Goodwill?”.
I didn’t know I’d have to keep reminding them, 3-4 times, that I wanted to keep the ones that didn’t sell. The garage sale was yesterday, this morning they took the books there and it was the only box they took, nothing else…so my stuff wasn’t just thrown in with other stuff, the box of books is all there was. They didn’t seem to waste any time in getting rid of them, so I kind of suspect my parents saw the chance to be rid of a few books from my apartment for once and took it regardless of what I wanted.
Giving them to the garage sale or not (which I didn’t really want to do anyway), I specifically told them I wanted to keep any that weren’t sold…so again “hey, did you still want to keep these?” doesn’t seem to be like it’s asking much before getting rid of them seemingly ASAP.
I can understand forgetting, but knowing my parents the way I do, I don’t think it was a case of forgetting.
But anyway, I have let it go if by “letting it go” means not being mad about it anymore to their faces. I am still kind of annoyed by it silently enough to rant about it here, though.
Yeah, they are totally fucking with you. Do as suggested above and call the cops.
Or get a kindle.
If your folks are over 55, they’re easily confused (doubly so if they’re crotchety, or retired, or are your parents). There’s NO way they’re going to remember a single detail about things that aren’t crucially important to them.
I can guarantee you that they weren’t plotting this. That’d take grey matter. I’ll bet it was more a case of: “Oh, box of junk… books, I guess. Now, did he say something… naah, I mean, these aren’t new. He’s read 'em already. Now, what do ya do with boxes of used stuff… basement? No room. Garage? I’d have to move the bikes. How can we not have this crap cluttering… oh, yeah, Goodwill. That’s where used junk goes.”