Get Your Hands Off My Stuff!!

Caroline on 'Two Broke Girls,' discovering the agony and ecstacy of thrift store shopping.

I always like to post about POSITIVE thrift store experiences. Goodness knows, there's enough negative stereotypes about resale shopping out there already.........why add to it? Sometimes though, I gotta spread some bad news, but I disguise it as advice :P

Last week, I found a brand new pair of DKNY sneakers at Goodwill. Only $3.29, they run $50 or higher in stores. They were my size, so I nabbed those puppies and continued to shop.

Immediately, an older woman spied them and started a very animated conversation with me about those shoes. It was pretty obvious she was interested in them, and acted as though she wanted me to offer them to her! I was polite, but let her know they were MINE. I also held them a little tighter.

As wonderful as thrifting is, once you have a goodie, guard it with your life! If you have a shopping cart, hide your prize under something unattractive. Never take your eyes off of it, or set it down unattended. If there's less and less courtesy in the world nowadays, it's never more obvious than in a thrift store. That one of a kind treasure is just as appealing to someone else..........but you got there first!

This is also why I grab something the minute I have an inkling I might want it. If I wait, and go through the rest of the store first, odds are it may not be there when I get back. This has happened to me numerous times. If you carry something around with you, and later decide not to get it, what does it cost you? Nothing, except the peace of mind that you didn't let a goodie go!

There's always a caveat, of course. If I had grabbed those shoes and didn't really need them (I did, by the way), maybe I WOULD have offered them to that lady. I'm not an ogre. As it was, I was in need of those shoes, and she had a fully-packed-to-the-gills shopping cart of her own, complete with several pairs of shoes. I noticed she wore a smaller size than me, and the pickings are a lot richer for the smaller sizes. I wear a big old size 10, so I gotta get what I can!

I hate to post stuff like this, but be aware! And pay it forward when you can. If you have a pair of cool jeans for your daughter and she already has 14 pairs, maybe that young mom might need them more :)