GARAGE SALES
What ever happened to garage sales? I used to love seeing the home-made signs around the neighbourhood, and making room in my schedule to visit a few of them. Did COVID put an end to them? …in this unprecedented time of ‘tightening our belts’? …after all the financial stress? Well, when I visited a local organic eggs distributor, I was told that the response to COVID had built such an atmosphere of fear that people wouldn’t buy his homegrown-hens’ eggs. Nobody wanted to risk potentially coming in contact with the virus. Imagine!
So I thought to find out what’s happening with that great tradition of selling used household things from your front yard, back yard or garage. Again, fear plays into it. We are so ‘infection-averse’ and being told that we have no immunity to the virus and its potentially deadly effects on our health, that we don’t want to do anything to challenge our God-given immune system. But what most people don’t realize is that our unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle have been challenging our God-given immune system for decades.
Which makes me think of good changes in our lifestyle, as a result of COVID. More people had to go outside to walk or socialize with neighbours. More people invested in bicycles for exercise, whether ‘regular’ or e-bike. More people made time to cook meals or bake treats for themselves or their families, especially if they were working from home. These are some changes that have made an important difference in our lives, compared with the life that we used to call ‘normal’—as if being unhealthy, sedentary and stressed was ‘normal’.
So what are we waiting for? Let’s get a move on! “The Return of the Garage Sale!”
We’ve probably looked at our house or yard and thought about improving our surroundings by de-cluttering or selling things that we bought and used once …and saved for years! I want to have fun looking at someone else’s junk, and finding a treasure. I want to have fun ‘shopping’ for unique things that will make a great conversation-starter, or fill a long-felt need in my life. I may not be able to put on my own garage sale, for lack of bodies to do the prep work, which can be daunting. But for families, it’s a wonderful experience, with kids deciding which old toys to sell for pocket money; teens arranging the goods and posting signs, and parents wearing the money-belt and enjoying conversations with visitors, sprinkled with a dash of memories and a heaping helping of much-needed social interaction.
If you have a three-generation garage-sale-cum-family-gathering, it can be a profitable event and a way for grandparents, aunts and uncles to teach and learn from the children. You could ask the relatives to contribute something to sell. Throw in some refreshments, music and chairs for the seniors, and you’ve got a perfect setting for fun! You’re sure to enjoy laughter and discover hidden talents among the participants and maybe a like-minded neighbour or two.
Fiona