  Romance/Love
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“Ashes to ashes. Garage sale to garage sale,” I said."~~ John Green
“[at prof. Frink's yard sale]Three dollars and it only transports matter?!”~~Homer Simpson
"I was at a yard sale one day and saw a box marked "Electronic cat and dog caller -- guaranteed to work." I looked inside and was amused to see an electric can opener."~~anon
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Observations from a Garage Sale
Garage sales are vastly more fun to GO TO than they are to HAVE. That being said, it stands to reason they are a LOT of work! Your entire neighborhood comes to 'help' out; defined as early snags or just plain nosy or both. No, that isn't quite fair, we had folks helping because they are awesome neighbors.
The old 'airing dirty lines in public' line comes to mind with garage sales. You tend to sell the stuff no one ever sees. I never saw it because it was buried under the stuff that gets piled on top of the other junque I didn't know what to do with. We both suffer 'packratitus' so we've got lots of items that no one needs or might come in handy someday or we were just too attached to it or it was (and this is the killer) belonged to Mom or Dad and has some sentimental value to it. (Hint--sentimental value does not translate to money!) Face it--seeing Mom's favorite coffee mug go for a quarter will make the pit of your tummy feel funny, or in my case, selling one of Mom's exorbitantly expensive coats for ten bucks causes the heaven's to ripple and you can swear you hear her and you can feel the heat of the 'mom glare.' Next time I plan to have a garage sale, someone shoot me--please!
There are several categories that yard sale customers fall into. There are the ones who come looking for something in particular. They scan, ask and depending on whether you have said item, haggle, buy and depart.
There are the ones who need nothing but come looking for something they didn't know they needed but simply had to have. I was quite glad someone had to have the three blue goblets I'd bought for some reason at a dollar store. Sold them for seventy-five cents apiece. Wish someone had needed the Prussian mustache mug!
Then there are the ones who wander, looking down the vast distances of their noses at the offerings, pick up and inspect everything and then offer a quarter for a cherry coffee table only marked five bucks to begin with.
Several came and bought like crazy to, get this, sell at their own garage sales. Who knew? My favorites were the families that came, had fun and bought everything from scrapbook supplies to a time clock to mugs to books to VHS tapes and had fun doing so.
A couple of folks eyed my coffee longingly, were offered some and left an hour later with a smile and a bag or two of goodies and I gained a new friend. We saw distant family members and got caught up. We saw closer ones who were distraught that we were selling their (name an item) that had been languishing in our attic for years and that they had long forgotten they even had. Funny what some elbow grease and polish will do to an object that was deemed unimportant years ago!
We had folks haggle an item down and then ask to pay with a fifty dollar bill and people who paid full price dig out exact change from a coin purse hoping they had enough. We had kids come and then come back and then return yet again, a quarter or fifty cents at a time. I spent time talking to several women of a certain age who come to yard sales simply for someone to talk to for a bit. Sweet ladies who enjoyed the hustle and craziness of it all.
I saw a customer from my store still schlepping about in her bunny slippers. One favorite was the guy on the Harley who found a mug for his mom just like the favorite one of hers that he'd accidentally broken a long time ago. He was tickled pink! I hope she appreciates it as much as he did finding it. (It was my mom's favorite one too!)
Who comes to garage sales? People. All sorts, all economic levels, all ages, all temperaments. Real people with all their foibles and insecurities hanging out looking for a treasure. Who holds garage sales? Same folks.
(I'm dating myself here.) Remember the penny candy counters where for a quarter you could get one of those and three of them and leave with enough candy to last all night camping out? A garage sale is like that with people and their characteristics, allowing the writer to take that hairdo and those sneakers, this smile and that make-up job and combine them into the perfect character for the lady next door or the history professor or the cop on his beat. A smorgasbord to possibilities!
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The people we meet, the people we see, the people we interact with and the people we are...or were.
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Emily and Jon struggle with concepts of romance stories, and beautiful people.
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Coolhand : Your Lighthouse newsletter was extremely interesting and inspiring--quite a story. And your quotes were great, too. Thanks fyn.
Thanks *smile* One can find stories, or inspirations for them in the darnedest places!
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Romance/Love: September 16, 2009 Issue [#3279]
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