Home


Arts & Leisure
Calendar of Events
Cleveland
House, Home & Family
People
Pets
Resources
Special Offers/Store
Veterans, Police/Fire, US
About Us
Search ClevelandPeople
ClevelandWomen
GreatLakesGeek
ClevelandCooks
Cleveland101
Cleveland Speakers



Pat has a Garage Sale
Chat with Pat

Have you ever had a Garage Sale? Well we did! After years of torment, I finally gave in to my daughter and had one. Let me tell you about it.

We made a pact that we could always have another one but that anything we put up would never come back in the house. "Sell or donate!" was our cry.

Up to the attic we went. I thought I was most cooperative in throwing out my treasures. However, whenever I said I'd like to keep something, I got a mean look and heard "why would you want that? You haven't used it in 15 years", or "It will never fit you again, you can buy new." What was treasure to me was trash to her and vice versa.

We found a couple large sealed boxes with newspapers from 1964 and 1966 covering the stuff inside. You'd be amazed at the ad prices and articles from back then. I'll write another column giving you memories from them.

Garbage bags and boxes graced our house for several weeks. A friend and another daughter added their stuff to the piles. I found some really nice things they were getting rid of. No one said their stuff couldn't go to the attic did they?

We wrote what we considered to be the perfect ad for the Sun Press only to see it lost among the other 85 garage sale ads. We should have used bold letters.

The week before the sale we realized we needed more tables. The question was: where to borrow them and how to get them home? A friend whose husband was packed for a fishing trip dismantled his stuff from the truck so his wife could drive the tables here.

A neighbor also loaned us 2. With our own tables we now had a grand total of 11 tables and needed about 16. This was no longer a garage sale but a Flea market!

Two nights before the sale my daughter fell down the stairs while carrying boxes. My son and dog got sprayed by a skunk while setting things up. It was hot and we could hardly walk through our house.

"Please move the stuff that's in front of the TV". Was that asking too much? I said please, didn't I? Boxes, heat, stress and the smell of skunk. It was hell!

The evening before the sale, my son and son-in-law put up a tent and we all loaded the tables.

The morning of the sale my daughter got up at 5 am to post signs and do last minute stuff because the "pros" told us people will come before the sale starts. "That is the best time." Well I think they hit the other 84 first!

Our paper wasn't here and we were concerned we put in the wrong address. What happened to my son? He was gone like the wind. "Had to leave early for the office that day!" Sure he did.

Finally they came. How could they look at our treasures and not want them? Have they no taste?

Thursday evening it rained and things were moved into the garage, tarps put over tables, and things I thought would never enter our house again were brought inside.

Oh, did I mention that we had to make arrangement with neighbors to park in their yard for several days? My little car, which I baby, was now outside exposed to rain, and bird poop.

A friend brought over a chair she was determined to sell for $25.00. In the meantime a man pulled up with a truck full of watermelons he was delivering elsewhere. Next thing I knew the friend with the chair gave him $5.00 and the chair for a watermelon. Go Figure!

Time to take it down. Seemed like we sold a lot, but how is it we ended up with more than we started with?

Bags and bags went to Charity as we promised, but some things I just couldn't part with a second time. We didn't say they couldn't go in storage at the office did we? The truck was brought back and the tables returned.

A young boy who wanted a toy and didn't have enough money had said he'd be back. He stopped by yesterday (3 weeks later) to pay the balance (fifty cents). He apologized for the delay but they were out of town. We let him slide for his honesty.

Would I do it again? Well, I met some interesting people, reacquainted with old neighbors, had some good laughs, some watermelon, missed work a few days and renewed my faith in our young but would I do it again?…….. Do I look crazy?

What is your experience with Garage sales?

Let's Chat
Pat







Top of Page

Back to Chat With Pat













Pat Hanson - Chat with Pat








Sign up for our free eNewsletter sent about once every month with special offers, discounts, contests and more specifically for Cleveland area Seniors and Baby Boomers.




Follow ClevelandBoomer on Twitter
Follow us on Twitter






In Association with Amazon.com

Copyright © 2003-2020 ClevelandSeniors.Com. All Rights Reserved.
Questions or Comments? E-Mail us at:
support@ClevelandSeniors.Com