Estate Sale Stories

Lots of very interesting people came by the sale.

Some people had the presence of mind to take off their shoes, others lightly dusted them and tracked snow all over my house. Some people knocked and others came in. I finally had Hanna put a sign on the front door that said, "Don't knock. Just come right in." And another that said, "Remove boots and shoes."

Some people agonized over spending 50 cents on a necklace, others didn't balk at all on a $40 item. Some tried to haggle, others not at all.

There was the dealer who scanned my books' bar codes looking for priceless items that I had listed for $1. He was mad that he wasn't the first one here. He thought that the sale started at 9am, because that's what I posted on craigslist...but I put 8am on the signs that I put up on the street. He still arrived at 8:30.

There was another reseller who offered Summer $60 for her $150 Cello. Of course she declined. The interesting thing about him was that he was really good at remembering people's names. Another reseller walked into the sale a little later. "Hello Kevin.", And I asked if they knew each other. Apparently they are rival resellers who run into each other at every garage sale in the area.

Yet another reseller stopped by on Saturday. His strategy was to offer 1/2 the sales price, thinking that I would be desperate to sell at that point. He was right, and got a few items cheap. Summer recognized him from her garage sale that she had in September.

About ten people who saw my bundle of chopsticks made the exact same racist remark. "AAAAH SOOOO". Not funny, people, jeez!!

And then there was the impossibly old man who bought a few $.50 items. He was pretty chatty. He told Hanna something was on her nose, and when she moved her hand there to wipe it, he said, "Your hand!" When we laughed, he felt encouraged and proceeded to tell the following joke: "Have you heard about Obama's new healthcare plan?" (This is where I cringed, eyeing the very-possibly staunch liberal neighbors mulling about.) "Yah, it's like when you go to the hospital and put on that gown. You think you're covered by you're not." (I sighed in relief. Not so bad.) Later, as he was walking out the door, he yelled to me, "Have you heard about Obama's new healthcare plan?" I assumed this was one of those 'black-and-white-and-red-all-over' jokes that have many various punchlines, and that he would tell me a different ending. Nope. "Yah, it's like when you go to the hospital and put on that gown. You think you're covered by you're not." I laughed, and he was satisfied, but as he shut my front door I looked at Hanna and we laughed a little harder, because about three minutes transpired between the telling of the same joke.