It has been a long time since I have gone shopping at a thrift store. I used to enjoy spending a couple hours on many a Saturday morning in the area Salvation Army or Goodwill stores. I could walk out of either store on any given day with some great finds. I would put up with the musty basement smell that accompanies all visits to a thrift store. I would ignore the dirty people and snot-nosed kids climbing in and out of rickety shopping carts. I would ignore the crocheted doll heads and the smelly old shoes (like someone will really BUY THOSE!), and the Commodore 64 game systems. I would climb over the smelly stained furniture and the 70s pea green sets of dishes.
I knew how to find the good stuff.
I was on a mission. I am proud to say that I have scored some great deals over my years of shopping thrift stores. Name-brand clothing (sometimes with the tags still on them!) for a fraction of the retail cost. Funky household items that would get rave reviews from visitors to my home, always in awe of where I found such a neat item. If you came to my house, you would probably be surprised at all the things I could point out in my home that came from a thrift store (and many from garage sales). I am proud of my bargain shopping abilities.
But last weekend, something changed. I decided since I had a few hours with nothing to do, I would head over to one of my favorite Goodwill stores and see what I could find. I had recently purchased a new curio cabinet, and was looking for some neat colorful glass pieces to put in it. I have a secret Goodwill store I like to go to, because it is just on the outskirts of a pretty swanky area. It seems to be the one store that all the rich people take their stuff to, so the treasures are usually in good supply.
I walked into the store last Saturday afternoon, and headed straight back to the housewares section. Last time I was in this store, I scored not one– but TWO– Longaberger baskets, both priced at $1.99.
Seriously. If you live in the Des Moines metro area, this is the Goodwill store you need to check out.
Or, at least it WAS.
While expecting to see lots of fun tihngs to buy, my eyes pored over piles of crap. A framed Backstreet Boys mirror that someone probably won playing a game at the fair. A crocheted doll face that was probably also a Kleenex box cover. (sidenote: those crocheted doll faces scare the crap out of me).
The baskets? they were broken and stained, and just plain ugly. The glass items were all chipped, covered in stickers, or full of a pile of gunk at the bottom of them.
I was disappointed, and I blame the economy. A few years ago, when things were going well… Most all of us had money to spend. We had disposable income. We had jobs. We had good health insurance, and we were content.
Today, people rely on these stores for stuff. More people shopping there = more people stealing my treasures.
Mr. President, please fix this economic mess we are in, and get those people outta mah Goodwill store. It’s been a long time since I’ve scored big at the store, and I am going through withdrawal.
