Yes, I said garage “sails” not sales. I’m not really sure this is just an upstate thing either, I’ve been told it is considered a sport in New Jersey and other foreign countries. Once the snow melts the garage sale goers are on the prowl sailing from one garage to another. They show up a day early or before the crack of dawn and sit there like vultures waiting for the victim to fall.
Even more odd are the people who think they are going to actually make money off of junk they’ve stored for years and forgot about. I’ve tried to empty the garage and storage areas of “treasures” that no one has used for years. We literally have 12 huge boxes marked “Christmas” and may use about 3 of them. Death if you dispose* of anything before the big “sale”.
*Tip: Wait until the wife and kids go out. You can then sneak all manner of stuff to the dump, transfer station or Goodwill with nobody being the wiser. You may have to swear your neighbors to secrecy though…
I finally figured out it is not really about selling or buying anything, it’s one big social event. You’ll never see just one garage sale in a neighborhood upstate; the whole street is involved and it has a theme…No joshing. Baby furniture, clothes or toys in one neighborhood; sports, outdoor furniture or camping stuff in another…Crafts in another. They’re selling baked goods, collecting for causes; it’s more like a huge town wide carnival or an offline version of an auction site. Point and click becomes start the car, slam the door and “We’re heading to the next place, hoist the sails Alice”.
Next time we’re assailing (pardon bad pun) the seasonal privately owned campgrounds….
TK
1 comment:
Yes indeed, some have made an art of garage "sailing" - those who get up at the break of dawn on Friday or Saturday, raid their piggy banks and then hit the sales for those items that they just can't live without (or that they think they can sell for a profit at their own garage sale -- how sick is that??!). I've had 2 garage sales in my life and both times when I was done I vowed "I'm never doing that again!!" (After the 2nd one I said, "No, I'm REALLY not doing that again!" I'm amazed though at the junk that people will buy. Garage sale #1 - the first thing I sold was a broken upright vacuum cleaner. Had a sign right on it that said "does not work". And a guy handed me $10 for it. Go figure. Garage sale #2 - sold off all the camping stuff that we hadn't used in years for next to nothing ....... Murphy's Law -- the next summer my husband bought a new camper!
Speaking of which - I'll look for some Fair Haven pics to share. This weekend we're heading to Watkins Glen State Park - one of our favorites!
Happy camping!!
Willow
Post a Comment