Making a living wasn’t as easy as it seemed to be.

I’ve been trying for 2 months, but not a single employer would consider giving me a shot, just so I could pay the bills and avoid ending up on the streets.
In fact, I’m over as many rejections as there are brick houses in the Netherlands, yet the growing debt and the gradual weight loss due to a small degree of starvation doesn’t seem to annoy me.

While I’m sitting on needles to open more emails about how I don’t quality as a janitor or a dishwasher, a friend of mine offered a brilliant solution:
– Sell stuff online, so you can buy food!
Here comes the “Yea, but…“
How do you sell when you have nothing to sell?
My entire possession of stuff was 2 weeks of clothes and my famous animal masks.
Here comes the best part: People in Western Europe actually GIVE STUFF FOR FREE.
Like, for FREE.
There is a site called markplaats, which is pretty much an online garage sale simulator.
Some bargaining here and there, and you’ve got yourself a good deal. Or you can just skip the heel¹ process, and browse for the stuff that is free; Gratis – says the Dutch.
And that’s exactly what I did.

If I told you that you could build an entire house just from the free stuff people put up there, It wouldn’t be a lie.
Bricks, chairs, beds, tables, ground, cabinets, more chairs, lamps; and they don’t ask for a single cent.

All I had to do was to hit up the owners with the following:
“Hi, I saw you would like to get rid of that *name of furniture*, and I would gladly liberate you from it’s possession at a time of your choosing, if it’s still available.
Yours sincerely,
Erik”
Works every time.
One day I was offered two barely used IKEA chairs.
Holy shit – I thought
I could sell those for 5 euros each, which would fund 2 and a half loaf of bread apiece!
What a feast I could have from securing those cheap wooden thrones.
However, there was a small problem:
It was 3 km away, and the only way I could transport them to the house was on foot.
But you know the rule:

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”

Richard Branson

The owner asked me if I could pick them up tonight, otherwise he would have to give it to someone else.
“Zeker², meneer³!” and I was already on my way.
If only I didn’t forget that even though chairs have legs; they aren’t dogs. Thus, they won’t just follow me.

And that is exactly how a remarkable night was made.

The greatest blessing of the day was that my headphone was fully charged, therefore I could dance through the night (on the way there*) and feel the soothing air of this windy spring evening.
When I arrived to the house, it didn’t take much time to realize the mistake I just made.

4 limbs, 2 chairs.
2 is occupied with moving the earth below my feet and the other 2 weren’t enough to carry the chairs through the city.
But no.
One does not stop halfway on the road with the prize in his hands. 
Since I had no fucking clue where I was, and I couldn’t hold my phone on the way back either, I had to rely on my memory. The method I figured to carry the chairs was a difficult one to manage, and every time I stopped to check the map, it took at least 3 minutes of struggling to get back in the Optimus postion, which I invented for transporting the soon-to-be breads.

About halfway towards home, many people have already passed me, and not one of them thought that I’m sane.
They were right though.
It felt rather majestic than humiliating. I was so proud I actually stopped a Lady and asked her to take a picture, so I would forever remember the moment where I had to carry 2 IKEA chairs through an entire city, just to get some bread on the table.
Here is me, trying to find the light in this seemingly very long tunnel I’ve got myself into:

What a Glorious stance.

It’ll be even funnier in 10 years; by then- I should surely be able to afford my own chairs.

When I got home around 11 pm, my legs were sore, my is shoulders are dead and I really needed a shower before going to bed; but I also had something money could never get:
A tale to tell my grand-kids if they insist on hearing a bedtime story before visiting wonderland.

Lesson learned: Say yes, to as many things as you can.
You never know what kind of adventures you miss out if you don’t even go on them.
Give a shot for just one extra yes at a time, and you’ll never have to sit in your room bored of life once again.

Be a bit silly, and take the road less traveled.

Take care,
Erik

22.03.2019 – Day 60

[Dutch Dictionary]
Heel¹ – Entire
Zeker² – Certainly
Meneer³ – Sir