PE said "911 is a joke" I say Ms.Pat Davis is a fucking joke... this "teacher" comes in late as a dog every class and she always has some excuse and a lil story to go alog with it... but your boy's getting an A so can I really complain... anyway I took time out of my busy schedule to volunteer at a local thrift store as per the final. We had to volunteer and tell about it and the scoiological impact it has.... so check it out and remember it's hella rough.
Everytime I go to a thrift store I always feel like I'm cheating somebody out of something. I mean I am not rich by any ,means but by no means am I poor. Many a times have I been to the thruft store to find something vintage and kitschy. Or went and spent hours going from thrift store to thrift store browsing albums. But it was only after volunteering for a day did I realize that contributions, no matter from whom benefit needy children and families.
When I first heard of the assignment it was a no brainer of where to go, the hardest decision to make was which one to go to. Should I go to a smaller one with a lot lighter of a workload or go to a bigger one with a lot more people who come in.... that was the dilemma I was facing... finally I made my decision based a cute girl who always flirted with me and made comments about the music I listen to and come in there and buy. I had always wanted to talk to her a little bit more in depth and what better way than by working with her for a day...
Now I had already told her beforehand about the assignment and she automatically assumed I would be working there for a day, so I told her I might go to the zoo with a classmate of mine and volunteer there. But we both knew I wanted to be there with her... now I woke up that morning kind of late because I had went out so I stroll in there super late wearing clothes suited to the type of work I would be doing... some old jeans and a sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off. So I think I'd be doing nothing but chilling with Erica, (the cute girl) but how wrong was I... as soon as I got back there I went to the donation room and was told to sort stuff out according to what it was, i.e. mens, women or childrens clothing and get it ready to be price tagged... so at first when I went back there the musty smell of clothes hit me right off the bat... I mean it was soo strong but after a lil' while I really didn't notice it anymore. While I was back there sorting, Erica would come back there and make my job harder by messing with me and all sorts of foolishness and I would throw stuff at her and tell her to stop... so after about two hours of sorting it was now time for me to actually put stuff on the racks. My job was mens clothes. So I would go out with a shopping cart full of clothes and put thenm on the rack according to what they were and in doing that I really got to see who came into the thrift store. For the most part there were a lot of yuppies coming in their buying Members Only jackets and "vintage" suit coats to wear with jeans and a lot of guys like me who buy records to make music with. I actually networked with another producer but I digress. The majority of people who came in though were single parents buying summer clothes for their children and people buying baby clothes for a newborn because a few of the people who would just randomly talk to me because I "worked" their would tell me how expensive baby clothes are and how they're glad their child would be born in the summer so he "really wouldn't need clothes for like five months!". From the looks of it people from all walks of life shopped at thrift stores from lower middle class to upper-middle class. As far as people who really were lower lower class, I would guess that they just stretch what they have and make it last. Because I did see high school aged girls and boys with their parents, and there parents were picking out their clothes and the kids looked glum as hell. So about now it's about six o'clock and the crowd really is thinning out, and I'm asked to help move some furniture into this guys truck, he bought a really nice mirror and some antique looking chairs that looked nice but uncomfortable. I almost forgot upon my frequent trips to the thrift store I never really looked at the furniture but they have some pretty nice stuff. I mean when you think of thrift store furniture you think of stuff you can find on a corner right? No no no, there were posturpedic mattresses', I inquired about where they got the stuff from as in new mattress' and I was told that local business' gave them stuff for tax rebates at tax time for charitable donations... so now the lights are going out and it's time we do a general straightening up, by running a dust mop over the floor then mopping the floors because it still is a business right? So me and Erica are just talking and she asks me what I thought of it and what was I going to write?
I told her I think thrift stores are many thing to many people, a place to find junk you don't need and clothes you'll porbably end up donating back. But to others it was a place to find things that you never would at a price you never thought you could get it for.
and I have really came to like it. I can definitly see how people can immerse themselves in that world and lose relationships, friends and time. I felt the same way I felt when I first used myspace from hot or not. The learning curve wasn't steep at all and before long I was @'ing and #'ing all over the place. I've found while I'm at the lot it's a cool place to tweet and the girls that come into the club I valet at make it a whole lot more interesting.
