Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Yard Sale-ing is Evidently a Verb

I'm curious to know what your thoughts are on yard sales.

My neighborhood has an annual yard sale, and some years we participate and some years we don't. This year we did, in large part because Addie had gone through a monster growth spurt and designer duds from Hollister, Abercrombie, and Aeropostale were overflowing the house. What bothered me, though, was that the people that came in droves (and once word of the teenage girl clothes sitting in piles on a table in my driveway broke, the droves were intense) did not appear to be people that couldn't afford to shop at those insufferable stores.

However, the article from my local news station linked above made me think about it a little bit differently. Maybe the people that shop at yard sales are the smart ones--they're able to make it look like they went to the "right" stores (and I don't just mean the teenage apparel stores, although I'm moderately appalled that I've raised a material girl) without spending the requisite money.

I was raised by a mother who thought shopping at a yard sale was akin to begging for change in the street. I've found that, despite steps I've taken to educate myself and open my mind, the values I was raised with are still there, albeit down pretty deep. Still, this report made me think.

Some of my friends "go yard sale-ing" for fun in the spring and fall. I might just join them this year ... after all, you never know what you might find.

5 comments:

  1. I think it doesn't matter if you've got a ton of money or a little -- it's greener to buy at a thrift store or garage sale. It's recycling at its best!

    I just love thrifting and yard-saling. They are definitely verbs! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. yes, definitely a verb around here! It can be fun with the right group of friends.

    Thanks for stopping into my blog and commenting - come back, comment often

    ReplyDelete
  3. I learned the value of this from Aunt Janet. I know, of course, Kay's opinion on the matter. But I have enjoyed becoming cheap. I don't know why, but this makes me think of those new PC commercials where the young hipsters get more powerful PCs for the price of a tiny, pathetic Mac. Okay, so Macs (and in their own worldview, Mac users) have the cool reputation, but when you get something you want that is functional for less money, it kind of makes the person who *had* to have the Mac (or the Hollister shirt new from the store) seem like a tool.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My mother oohs and ahhs everytime we drive by a yard sale. She gets tons of things for her garden, she bought a tiny doll cradel that she put in the garden with a plant in it, she buys pretty different type cups and plates to put in the garden, obviously she puts plants in the teacups. She loves it and baby clothes, she's always buying baby clothes (despite me having no babies yet) if the clothes are super clean and in good shape.

    Me I hate going to yard sales and I don't like having yard sales.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So true, and yet I still have a hard time shopping at yard sales. I think we had the same indoctrinization.

    ReplyDelete

Are Minorities Discouraged from Taking Upper-Level Classes?: The Elephant in the Room

As a public school teacher for sixteen years, I sometimes feel like I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen Standards come and go (and despite the brou...