"Hello!" I holler...."Is this looking for a good home?" The person (who reminded me of a hobbit) turns around, walks slowly towards me and says "That's my roommate's..I don't know why he put it out here. I better check with him first." I'm thinking: "Why do you think he put it out here? He obviously wants to get rid of it." I was too stunned to try to reason with her.
I asked her to call me if it's a throwaway and then I took the liberty of moving it closer to the house in order to A) keep it out of the rain and B) protect it from the grimy hands of someone like me.