My guilty little secret is that I sometimes stop for a share of the largess. There really isn’t anything I need, but that word “free” speaks to some deep impulse to acquire, and to compete, lest someone else beat me to the punch. In this manner I once muscled a picnic table into my truck.

When I arrived home, my son remarked, “But we already have a picnic table. Why did you get another one?”

My answer was immediate: “Because it was free!”

As I write this, I am glancing out the window at a Windsor chair my neighbor has put out. The sign says FREE, but the chair is missing one leg.

Hmm... I could either repair it or use the chair for firewood. Which shall it be? Too late! While I dither over a course of action, an old-timer has pulled up. The chair is his, and I feel a tiny sting of loss.

Vocabulary

1. byway: 旁道，偏僻小路;Maine: 缅因州，美国东北角的一个州;casting-off: 被丢弃的东西;curbside: 靠近路缘的人行道部分，路边;append: 附加，增补;irresistible: 无法抗拒的，非常诱人的。

2. be noted for: 因……著名;ethic: 准则，观念;sufficiency: 充足，足够;singular: 突出的，异常的。

3. jetsam: 投弃货物。

4. representative: 典型的，具有代表性的。

5. accompanying: 附带的。

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