As I have mentioned in a previous post, I am not a garage sale fan. I understand the role garage sale plays in the grand scheme of things. I, myself, have considered on multiple occasions having a garage sale. I have even frequented garage sales from time to time. I am not philosophically opposed to garage sales nor do I look down upon those who love them with their whole hearts. I simply just don't like going into a stranger's garage and pawing through the items they have deemed no longer worthy of use. It's not that I have a problem with purchasing goods at a garage sale. My blue Columbia fleece that sees more light of day than 2/3 of the other items hanging in my closet is item #5 on the list of the best garage sale purchases of all time. My problem with garage sales is quite the opposite, in fact. I despise walking into the garage, greeting the seller, perusing the wares and then walking out empty handed~AWKWARD! I will freely admit I take things much more personal than the average bear but man, what a slap in the face to the host. It's like turning up your nose and saying, "Your garbage isn't even good enough for me." On a practical level, I realize that is not what you are actually saying by passing on all the fine linens, bric-a-brac and old VHS movies often found on the tables but it is that extreme pressure that forces me to buy something, anything, even that old bear Lily can often be found clutching. A purchase made just to avoid the figurative slap in the face.
My aversion to garage sales is a bit of a conundrum for two reasons: 1. It begs the question, "How can the offspring of the King and Queen of garage-saleing dislike the whole concept so very much?" and 2. My daughters love rummaging and I can either a.) Live with the guilt of depriving them of their most favorite summertime activity or b.) Suck it up and take one for the team. Option B is the route I chose to take yesterday and led me right into the Rustic Hills Annual Garage Sale abyss. Imagine my surprise when the girls and I had an absolutely fabulous time and came home with some seriously good deals including 3 very nice, heavy sweatshirts for Grace that she needed for a grand total of $5.00.
2 hours digging through stranger's unwanted items+$20.50=3 bags of goodies and 4 happy faces! Well worth it! Too bad it is raining today or we would be right back out there! Turns out I wasn't adopted after all!
"A bargain is something you can't use at a price you can't resist."~Franklin P. Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment