remember when we died of lemonade?
Aug. 10th, 2007 03:05 pmWent to assist mother and grandparents with a rummage sale at the senior center. I know to most people this does not sound like good times, but I'm increasingly finding that old people are actually pretty awesome. I almost can't wait to be one, except that I'll probably get diabetes and die by the time I'm 50 and therefore will never actually be able to claim my God-given senior discount.
I think Mom sort of missed the point of the rummage sale. Everybody at the senior center knows each other, and it was pretty much an excuse for them to sit around and gossip and pass around a few knickknacks. She ended up stalking one lady all over the pavilion when she picked up a box of books and didn't pay right away.
After a while, she sent me to hang out in the hot sun on the patio to guard over some fabric boxes, thinking that she'd get more customers if she set the fabric right out where everyone could see instead of hiding them under a table. This seemed to work; I immediately attracted a very old couple from Romania who looked like small, happy, shriveled apples, and who spoke itty-bitty dribs and drabs of English. I'm still not entirely sure whether we were haggling or not, but I ended up giving her as much fabric as she could carry (which wasn't much anyway) for $2. (Grandma Chris later explained to me that no, I wasn't getting ripped off, and then went and discussed Polish-Romanian social politics with her for a while.)
Have work in 10 minutes. Taco Bell is pleasant but dull and there really haven't been any amusing work stories, just general observations like "People ask for water glasses all the fucking time and then take pop," and "Indian people sure do like using credit cards." I'm sure this is fascinating to someone out there, but crushing monotony generally doesn't make for good writing.
I think Mom sort of missed the point of the rummage sale. Everybody at the senior center knows each other, and it was pretty much an excuse for them to sit around and gossip and pass around a few knickknacks. She ended up stalking one lady all over the pavilion when she picked up a box of books and didn't pay right away.
After a while, she sent me to hang out in the hot sun on the patio to guard over some fabric boxes, thinking that she'd get more customers if she set the fabric right out where everyone could see instead of hiding them under a table. This seemed to work; I immediately attracted a very old couple from Romania who looked like small, happy, shriveled apples, and who spoke itty-bitty dribs and drabs of English. I'm still not entirely sure whether we were haggling or not, but I ended up giving her as much fabric as she could carry (which wasn't much anyway) for $2. (Grandma Chris later explained to me that no, I wasn't getting ripped off, and then went and discussed Polish-Romanian social politics with her for a while.)
Have work in 10 minutes. Taco Bell is pleasant but dull and there really haven't been any amusing work stories, just general observations like "People ask for water glasses all the fucking time and then take pop," and "Indian people sure do like using credit cards." I'm sure this is fascinating to someone out there, but crushing monotony generally doesn't make for good writing.