Yard Sale

Today my mother and I are having a good old fashioned Watsontown yard sale and I am selling a treasure trove of crap I’ve acquired over the past few years.

The last time I had a yard sale was before I left Highland Park. Well, actually that wasn’t a yard sale; it was a “tag” sale because instead of hauling the goods down a flight of stairs and displaying them proudly on folding tables in the back yard, I invited the potential buyers inside and directed them up the staircase where they could examine the items in their natural habitat. It was a great success, of course, although I was a bit freaked out by the some of the weirdos who came back several times over the course of the weekend, as if they were casing the joint. Luckily, the day after the sale ended I was on a plane to Scotland so if they did come back later on to rape and gut me, I wasn’t there to notice.

I like to get rid of stuff almost as much as I like to acquire it. Perhaps even more so, since not only does purging de-clutter my life and my mind, it also reminds that “things” are only valuable if value is attached to them.

For instance, I’m selling what I think is pretty close to a one of a kind Coach handbag. I purchased at an outlet store a few years ago for about 100 bucks and from what I have gathered, it was never released in stores - perhaps because the rabbit fur trim sheds like an annoying pet.

Now, some people might call me crazy for selling such a treasure at a yard sale for, like, $20.00 but those are probably the same people who collect Beanie Babies or who refuse to take Barbie Dolls out of the box. Some might label this ridiculous furry Coach handbag a “collector’s item” and try to sell it on Ebay or hold on to it for future greatness but I am not one of those people. Nope, to me it is just a bag that served its purpose and now needs to go serve that purpose somewhere other than in my basement storage unit.

Does it bother me that I paid $100.00 for it and it’s probably going to end up marked down to $5?

Nope, not a bit. As a matter of fact, I’ll probably end up giving it away if someone with the right look comes to our sale.

Money’s money and stuff is stuff and each comes and each goes and it’s just too damn hard to keep track of either - money or stuff - so why bother attaching one to the other? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

And before you think I’m insane, please know that when I say value, I mean $ value. I do recognize the difference between monetary value and sentimental value; sentimental value is a whole other story but I won’t go in to that today because it’s not relevant - I’m not selling pieces of myself today. I’m just selling stuff, so if you’re in the Watsontown area, come check it out.

Ps. this is not a pic of my yard sale, so don't expect to buy a lamp.