50 Cents, Please

Warning:  there really is no point to this post....

I am a sucker for a bargain.  Even if it is something I don't really need, if it's a good deal I have a difficult time passing it up.  That's one reason I end up with so much stuff (aka junk) I don't need.  I admit, I enjoy garage sales.  However, rarely do I "shop" at them or have them.  But today was different.  We felt the need to reclaim our garage and closet.  Things had been stacking up for too long, so we decided to go for it.

Our plan was to start early - I wanted to have things ready to go by 7:30.  That was quite ambitious, considering I had nothing organized or priced or.....  Of course there was not much sleep going on for me starting around 3:00 this morning.  I won't go into the details.  I ended up dozing back off to sleep at about the time I wanted to be out of bed.  Oh well.  I started dragging things out of the garage, and a couple of people stopped by before I had everything ready.  Not a big deal.  But then a huge mob of people came.  Kris had just brought out a huge stack of clothes, and I thought we were going to be attacked.  Oh my goodness - they kept coming closer and closer to me, reaching over each other, stepping over things, arms everywhere holding out things to me - how much?  how much?  I was so overwhelmed (and a bit scared), that I kept finding myself saying, "fifty cents, please.  Fifty cents, please."  Seldom did I go over that amount for anything.  You can get rid of a lot of stuff selling everything for just 50 cents!  There were times I was even like - just take it, you can have it!

There was a young girl, probably twelve years old, who had three items in her hand.  I told her she could have them each for a quarter.  When she went to pay me, she held out her hand, and under the sleeve of her jacket I could see one of my bracelets!  The bracelet was not one of the three items she was purchasing.  I kept staring at it - a bit confused at first and then mad.  You little thief!  I didn't say anything, and all afternoon I've been kicking myself for not calling her out on it.  I could have simply said - will you be purchasing the bracelet also?  Most likely I wouldn't have charged her more than 50 cents (of course).  I got over being mad and just became sad.  How sad that she is already taking what isn't hers.  And shame on me for not trying to teach her a lesson!  I pray that Sadie will not become a sneaky little thief - even if it is a 50 cent bracelet!  And I pray that the little girl's conscience will bother her about it.

By 11:30 we were ready to close up shop.  We still had lots left.  Packing it all up and putting it back into the garage was not an option.  So we packed it up, and Kris took it to Goodwill.  Oh, get this....the first Goodwill he went to would not accept it.  They said they were full.  I would think that such an organization would make room for any donations offered!

Anyway.....It's a good feeling having all that behind us.....we now have a clean garage and a HUGE stack of quarters!