Is it just me, or are garage sales changing?
Many years ago, if you had a garage sale, you posted a notice in the newspaper and then placed maybe 20 signs all around your neighborhood advertising your sale date and location. Some municipalities require the seller to purchase a license to have the garage sale. Your garage sale day would arrive and you wake up to find a line of people waiting at your front door hoping to get dibs on whatever was on hand.
Today, I had my first garage sale since my mom died two years ago. As with all garage sales (and for all sellers) a lot of planning and junk sorting goes into these endeavors. This year was particularly difficult because I was going through my mother's belongings. I also have some items that belonged to my mom's sister (still living but in a nursing home). On top of all these, I still have my parents' large collection of books - many are classic literature and a must read for writers such as me.
I had purchased the sale license about three weeks ago and read Overland's requirements. Only two signs. Well, that sucks. Signs cannot be on telephone poles. Well, that sucks, too. I see the reasoning, but it still sucks. Signs on corner lots can't be placed without homeowner permission. Well, duh. I just wish I knew the neighbors at the corners near my house to ask their permission. So my advertising was limited to a nice little sign in front of my house. I also couldn't advertise my garage sale until the day before. So much for the newspaper. Facebook posting on various online garage sale sites will have to do. I'm trying so hard to embrace modern technology.
Going through my mother and aunt's belongings was a bit emotional. I felt like I was throwing out my family. Passing along my parents' personal library to outsiders felt like a mortal sin. I don't have room to keep all this stuff. However, we really need the money and I was hoping we would get a big crowd.
Last night, my husband and I went through the boxes and priced most of the items. I hate pricing. I have no idea how much a watermelon shaped wicker picnic basket is worth. There isn't really a Kelly Blue Book for junk. I think there's something like that for antiques, but I don't have any.
I was up most of the night preparing for this morning. I think I got about four hours of sleep before getting up to put tonight's dinner in the slow cooker and start taking stuff outside. This late June morning was cool and breezy. I'll take it - no rain today.
My garage sale only netted me $54. I kept posting pictures to the Facebook pages that showed up. People wanted online pictures and price quotes before coming out. Several people wanted the same things but if someone beat her to the item, someone else got mad. I didn't see any cruising cars. In fact, there were no lines of people on my front porch or driveway. I don't think I had more than a half dozen people all day.
I'm trying not to be ungrateful. The money from the garage sale was more than I had when I woke up this morning. I simply feel like I wasted my time. One customer came to the house wanting one particular item that I had. She showed interest in a few other items. When she was ready to pay, she didn't have enough money. She told us she would go to the bank and be right back. Yea. Sure you will. Never saw her again. My stuff is still here. Other customers would contact me on Facebook, say they were interested and never show up.
What happened to the adventure of driving all over town looking for garage sales? What happened to the anticipation of finding an obscure item that you like?
Today was a disappointment. So, I think I'll take my box of Caramel Crunch 'N Munch popcorn with peanuts (purchased with sale money), go sit in my corner and drown my sorrows. Then I'll take a nap.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
A Day in the Life of . . . me?
My job at Macy's is both fairly easy and incredibly difficult. The easy part is just doing my job. The incredibly difficult part is dealing with cranky customers, gross things left behind by disgusting customers, slow computers and pricing that won't cooperate.
This morning I woke up and began to cry. I am so burned out from my job and really need a change. My boss, Cassandra, knows this. I told her that working for her is what helps me get through my shift. Really, she is. She's a young manager, but she's mature beyond her years. While I can't talk to her about everything (she doesn't know what it is to deal with a 20 year old daughter), I can talk to her about customer situations and know that, for the most part, she is listening to me. In spite of that, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm tired of dealing with crabby people.
Today was the preview of the One Day Sale that all the employees hate, loathe and despise. Customers get ridiculous about these sales. Today I had a customer who barely understood English but insisted that she could override the $10 coupon on her $15 purchase going to someone else. (The coupon is $10 off $25 or more.) That customer was really the only problem customer I had - that is nothing short of a miracle. One customer was thrilled when I fixed a problem with a previous purchase, another customer was ecstatic that I found the pants she wanted to get for her daughter and another customer praised me for bravely chasing a man out of the women's fitting room. A grandmother purchased some clothes for herself and her daughter while her 12-month old granddaughter lifted up my spirits with her sweet smile and adorable giggles.
Cassandra met with me to go over my monthly score card for sales - high marks across the board. She was thrilled and so was I. Still no word on a raise, though.
Finally, my shift ended and I bolted out the door. Just as I rounded the corner from the employee entrance to the front of the store, I spotted a pigeon on the sidewalk. It was too close to the doors and when I came near it, it only backed away from me. It didn't fly away - just backed up and in circles. At first, I thought it had an injured wing, but it kept going around in circles. Backwards. Probably a head injury from flying into the glass windows above the doors. Other customers spotted it and went around it, but no offers of help. One of the cleaning ladies spotted me outside and came out wanting to know what we should do. I told her to get a box and some towels or rags. It took her awhile, but she returned as I was talking to another customer and his girlfriend about the bird. We fixed up the box and the guy gingerly picked up the bird and placed him in the box. I assured everyone that I would take the bird to a place I knew that would help him.
I raced home with the pigeon in the box. I told Big Jack and Jack Jr. about the bird. Jack Jr. called the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center which is about a mile from my house. They had just shut off their phones for the night. Big Jack came with me while I drove over to the center to see if we could catch the volunteers before they left. As luck would have it, we got there just in time. We dropped off Macy (yes, we named him) in the very capable hands of the volunteers. Now to hope and pray that Macy will make it through the next few days and be as good as new.
Today was probably a better day than what I expected when I woke up this morning. Maybe God is trying to tell me that He's watching over me as well as Macy. (The bird, not the company)
This morning I woke up and began to cry. I am so burned out from my job and really need a change. My boss, Cassandra, knows this. I told her that working for her is what helps me get through my shift. Really, she is. She's a young manager, but she's mature beyond her years. While I can't talk to her about everything (she doesn't know what it is to deal with a 20 year old daughter), I can talk to her about customer situations and know that, for the most part, she is listening to me. In spite of that, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm tired of dealing with crabby people.
Today was the preview of the One Day Sale that all the employees hate, loathe and despise. Customers get ridiculous about these sales. Today I had a customer who barely understood English but insisted that she could override the $10 coupon on her $15 purchase going to someone else. (The coupon is $10 off $25 or more.) That customer was really the only problem customer I had - that is nothing short of a miracle. One customer was thrilled when I fixed a problem with a previous purchase, another customer was ecstatic that I found the pants she wanted to get for her daughter and another customer praised me for bravely chasing a man out of the women's fitting room. A grandmother purchased some clothes for herself and her daughter while her 12-month old granddaughter lifted up my spirits with her sweet smile and adorable giggles.
Cassandra met with me to go over my monthly score card for sales - high marks across the board. She was thrilled and so was I. Still no word on a raise, though.
Finally, my shift ended and I bolted out the door. Just as I rounded the corner from the employee entrance to the front of the store, I spotted a pigeon on the sidewalk. It was too close to the doors and when I came near it, it only backed away from me. It didn't fly away - just backed up and in circles. At first, I thought it had an injured wing, but it kept going around in circles. Backwards. Probably a head injury from flying into the glass windows above the doors. Other customers spotted it and went around it, but no offers of help. One of the cleaning ladies spotted me outside and came out wanting to know what we should do. I told her to get a box and some towels or rags. It took her awhile, but she returned as I was talking to another customer and his girlfriend about the bird. We fixed up the box and the guy gingerly picked up the bird and placed him in the box. I assured everyone that I would take the bird to a place I knew that would help him.
I raced home with the pigeon in the box. I told Big Jack and Jack Jr. about the bird. Jack Jr. called the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center which is about a mile from my house. They had just shut off their phones for the night. Big Jack came with me while I drove over to the center to see if we could catch the volunteers before they left. As luck would have it, we got there just in time. We dropped off Macy (yes, we named him) in the very capable hands of the volunteers. Now to hope and pray that Macy will make it through the next few days and be as good as new.
Today was probably a better day than what I expected when I woke up this morning. Maybe God is trying to tell me that He's watching over me as well as Macy. (The bird, not the company)
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