Trinket Box Purveyors Are Melting Down

Who among us has not attempted to start a whimsical community-oriented project only for it to devolve into a site of small scale authoritarianism?

It happens all the time!

It even happened in my own town! 

For a couple of months earlier this year, there was a white box screwed into the outdoor wall of a restaurant on my street.

Every time I passed it, people were crowded around it picking out little toys, stickers, and knicknacks that were stashed inside.

One time I stopped by and traded a sticker for a clear mancala marble that I now keep in my jewelry dish.

A lovely trinket trade! 

But after about two months, the box disappeared, leaving only four holes screwed into the stucco wall where it had been installed.

A visit to my city's subreddit revealed that because the citizens of this city were taking more than they were leaving, and also leaving the box's door unlatched, the box's creator had decided to move it from the street to inside a nearby cafe to "protect the space [...] and spirit of the project."