Post #382096 by woofmutt on Fri, May 23, 2008 11:28 PM

I love junking, but shopping alongside all the professionals just isn't any fun. These days I avoid being at yard or rummage sales when they first open. The pros rampaging through a sale make me feel slimy by association.

I still manage to find more cool things than I have room for. Most of the time the pros are so focused on blitzing one sale after another they overlook neat stuff.

I've had people attempt to reach and push past me. Fortunately I'm good at blocking them. A couple of times at junk shops items have been taken from my cart. Now if I have something extra tasty I grab some random clothes off the rack and hide the good stuff.

A few years back I payed a couple of bucks to get into a rummage sale early. The pros were running through the place like marauders. In the furniture section I was looking at a floor lamp when I heard this guy yell "That's my lamp! That's my lamp!" I looked over and saw a small man about 20 feet away frantically gesturing in my direction. "That's my lamp! the little man yelled again. He then grabbed one of the volunteers and yelled "I told you I wanted that lamp! How much is it?" The volunteer seemed a little confused as to who the screaming little man was and what lamp he was talking about. I was doubtful the little yelling man had even been near the lamp. As the volunteer and little yelling man made their way towards me I discreetly used my thumbnail to scrape away the $5 price tag. The little yelling man had pulled out his wallet and again yelled "How much is it?" The volunteer looked for a price on the lamp. I pretended to look as well. "There was a price tag on it, " I said, "It must have fallen off." I looked around the floor. "How much was it?" the volunteer asked me. "Twenty dollars," I said. The little yelling man payed for the lamp and I wandered off pondering the ethical dilemma of lying in order to get an awful person to pay a church an extra $15.

Kudos to tikipedia for being classy about relating this subject and to Kenike for helping wrangle the thread back on point. I appreciate good manners and carefully thought out posts. It keeps Tiki Central fun and useful and not just another internet flaming free for all.