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katydidwonder
reply to post by mblahnikluver
I work at a book store and I can SO relate to your comments about people leaving a mess because it's the employees' job to clean them up. It's ridiculous when a person can't put a book on the stack they took it from, but instead leave it on the stack right next to it. Why!? I have even heard parents say to kids, "Just leave it. It's the lady's job to pick it up" after their kids have trashed the store. But, as you said, frustrating as it is, we do get paid for working there and picking up messes so I grin and bear it.
People are much more respectful when going through a strangers's stuff at a yard sale! They tend to pick things up gingerly and place them back where they got them. Maybe because it's a less anonymous and more personal interaction than a retail store.
My husband sells stuff on ebay so we go to a lot of yard and garage sales! People are funny some times, especially if they feel like you're creeping on an item that they've already "claimed". I've seen someone practically elbow my husband out of the way to prevent him from looking at an item they want, which people wouldn't typically do in a store! (Except maybe on Black Friday! LOL!)
And we also have had people steal stuff when we've put on our own yard sales. Sometimes the items were so cheap, you wonder if the person just stole it for kicks rather than lack of funds. Interesting social situations yard sales are!
Hushabye
Thank you for making those people happy. It really is the best thing in the world- making someone happy...whether it's a fellow two legger, or a furry four legger, it's always worth it.
badgerprints
It's great to see people treat your belongings well. I think it has a lot to do with how you treat your own stuff. i've seen people treat stuff pretty poorly at garage sales but usually when it's just things jammed in a box.
Perception is a big part of behavior.
I walked the guy back out to my truck and opened the bed cover. I had about 25 shirts, 10 pair of pants and a few suits in there. Everything was cleaned and pressed and still had the dry cleaning tags and plastic bags over them.
He was shocked.
He accepted the clothes and thanked me profusely.
Now, every fall, I go down to that shelter and all of the guys on the job program pick out three sets of shirts and two pairs of pants and a coat from the giant room-O-clothes. I take their clothes out to be dry cleaned and bring them back a few days later. For 75 bucks I can get a dozen guys dressed out to go to job interviews and have decent work clothes.
It's worth every penny.
signalfire
I have a friend who has some 'unusual' hobbies.
One of them is to go to garage sales and leave something, instead of buying something. He likes to think about them wondering at the end of the day, 'where did THIS come from...?'