Going back to flea markets and garage sales

It’s something I usually don’t do anymore, but I am starting again to stop in at garage sales and farmers/flea markets. It’s somewhat nostalgic since my family used to go every weekend plus we would have a table once or twice a year. People are usually very nice and willing to chat about back problems, the weather, their neighborhood etc. I try not to spend much but it is kind of a good perceptual exercise for me to scan through lots of junk to see if there is something that might be useful to me. I am a little self conscious about my mild TD but I am finding that people usually respond well if I show a sense of humor and find some common ground.

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Revisiting good memories works wonders for optimism.

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I grew up going to flea markets on Saturdays, garage sales on Sundays. I started going back to them a couple years ago, usually when I was on my way over to see my mom.
She’d wonder why the normally 15 minute drive to her house would take a couple of hours.

My ex hated everything 2nd hand, and I never stopped wanting to go to these, but he’d just slow down, then race off saying everything was just garbage.

Everything I’d bring home from one of these I’d later find out he put in the trash, so I stopped getting things and would try not to look when driving by…it was hard, but I learned to not want anything at all. This made more money for him to spend on his latest electronic gadgets.

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My wife and I love Flea Markets, Garage Sales and Antiquing! It’s like a treasure hunt…once you sift through the plastic singing bananas!

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Damn, how’d I missed those.

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Nice story.

Yes, I met a young person who disliked the used home appliance. He punched the used water heater when his mother insisted to keep it.

Yeah. And the old VHS tapes of Old Yeller and The Little Mermaid. Amazing how many people are still trying to sell tube televisions at these things. They’re always left at the end of the day along with the funny looking coffee table things with the elaborate built-in ashtrays. Or those horrible pieces of wall art where a bad photo was laminated to plywood.

I’m going for an IKEA look in my home, thanks.

Oddly interesting, our house is decorated with IKEA, at least everything in all the rooms but my personal office.
Must be that aesthetic appeal of the latest electronic gadget gathering photographic eye and prices low enough to continue the hunt.

Have you ever attended PMA @shutterbug?
I went every year (as a spouse) from 1986-2009 (?), I’d be very surprised if you weren’t there too.

Not familiar with it?

Other than photographs, I’m a utilitarian decorator. Don’t understand the need for putting items in rooms that aren’t useful for something. (Other than antique cameras, all of which are in working condition and occasionally used.)

PMA, Photographic Marketing Association.
Wow, I just googled it, and it’s changed dramatically since I’ve attended.
It used to be (still is?) an international trade show all focusing on the newest, latest and greatest electronic gadgets,
I saw the emergence of digital photography here.

Photokina is another trade show in Koln, Germany held in even numbered years. I’ve been to many of these with my (ex) and his business partner, they have a vendor booth there.