It's All Relative

I participated in a yard sale today. It's been a long time since I've done one myself, though I used to have them often. Group sales are the best. They can be a lot of fun as you sit around with your morning coffee, smugly looking over your possessions that surely will bring some cash.

So I took some things over to Lydia Grace's today and stayed to help her tend the store. It was a great success. The somewhat overcast day, the breezes coming through her lovely, shaded carport, the almost endless stream of a great variety of folks coming up her drive to look, made for a good time.  A retired endodontist from Italy bought my lamp--he was one of my favorites. In his broken English (he has been here only 6 months) he told me how much he loves America. He, a well educated man, is studying now at our community college. Maybe he's learning English. Another great memory was a trio--grandma, mom, and daughter. Look alikes, and superb bargainers. What we enjoyed most was how grandma, the greatest shopper of the three, had all her money doled out in coinage, a dollar's worth tightly wrapped in tiny segments of plastic grocery bags.  Plop, plop, plop--and she lands three dollars in little bags on the table to pay for her newly prized possessions.

"So," I asked LG's husband, "Did you make a good profit?"

"Ah," replied a wise man, "It's all relative. For it's the whole package.  Not just the money, but the catharsis ... the cleaning out, the great feeling of seeing your junk head down the driveway. So, yes, it was a satisfactory profit."

There is a drawback to a group effort, though. That is, sometimes I shop from my friends. I could not help bringing home this little chair, which has found it's new home on my porch. Thanks, LG !