I had a subway token, but I no longer take the subway because I now live in the suburbs. So I made a trade with someone in my neighbourhood. For the token, he gave me a book he had just finished reading.
I read the book and then I didn't need it anymore. So I made a trade with my sister. For the book, she gave me a DVD.
I watched the DVD and then I didn't need it anymore. So I made a trade with husband-and-wife friends of mine. They have a young child, so I threw in some babysitting. For their "movie night" they gave me a Starbucks gift card.
I don't particularly like anything at Starbucks, so I made a trade with a co-worker. For the gift card, he gave me a bottle of red wine that was dropped off at the office for him by a client.
I'm not a big fan of reds, so I made a trade with another neighbour who knows lots about wine. Apparently, this was a good bottle so he gave me a pair of his baseball tickets in exchange.
I couldn't go to the game that night, so I sold the tickets on StubHub for a lot of money (I guess they were good tickets).
Yesterday, as I was heading for my train home, there was a guy sitting on the street asking people for a subway token. Everybody was walking by and ignoring him.
When he wasn't looking, I slipped the money I got for the baseball tickets into the cup in front of him.
Inspired by my middle daughter's foray into the Bunz trade-based community (bunz.com). The slogan on their website is "You Can't Buy Happiness But You Can Trade For It" (capitalization and punctuation is their fault). Also inspired by the story that I thought must be an urban legend, but apparently is true (albeit a bit dated): http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/from-paper-clip-to-house-in-14-trades-1.573973.
