Garage Sales and OCD
Again, you get into your 40’s and start realizing that many things you took for granted are just peculiar behaviors you picked up along the way. If and when recognized, I used to blame oddities on cultural differences, comparing and contrasting my Latina heritage to American ways. This made me feel justified, and provided an excuse not to change. I am no longer sure that this is the case, increasingly getting the feeling that medication might just do the trick.
Take, for instance, disposable items. I cannot seem to only use things once. I really did not see anything wrong with this until recently. My mother used to find new uses for many things growing up. Aluminum foil; the little trays that hold ground beef; disposable cups, plates and silverware; all kinds of boxes; clothing; sheets; wrapping paper; pieces of wood… throwing anything out was severely frowned upon — a sign of a poor imagination.
After college I moved to suburban Chicago, where my Argentinian uncles used to visit me once a year. A great city indeed, with museums, great beaches, fabulous shopping, an incredible variety of restaurants – a tourist’s dream. Not for Juan Carlos and Ruben. Their favorite activity was going to garage sales. That’s right — we found our kicks sifting through other peoples’ “junk”!
A garage sale, also called a “yard sale”, “rummage sale”, “tag sale”, “attic sale”, “moving sale”, or “junk sale”, is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals, in which “block sales” are allowed, so that sellers are not required to obtain business licenses or collect sales tax. (from Wikipedia)
I would add that garage sales are uniquely American. Everyone understands what this term means in our country, but travel around the world and you really have to spend some time defining it. I have not been able to find much research on this phenomenon: how it originated, how it has evolved over the years, and how it reflects American society.
I do not know if Americans can understand the extreme fascination that garage sales hold to us Latin people. For a culture that is used to holding on to everything, the thought of not only getting rid of it all at the same time but also advertising so strangers can come to your home and give you money for your junk is unthinkable.
So many things come into play here. Perhaps the most prescient being the fact that opportunistic crimes are a way of life in our countries. So, to add insult to injury, someone might steal your discards, or worse, stake out your house and rob you later. We live always on the lookout for these behaviors. It’s not the exception — you get used to it and incorporate it into daily life.
Second, the “que diran” is very pronounced in our culture. “Que diran” is a very old expression that means, literally translated, “What will they say”. This is yet another fact of life that is always on the back of our minds. Appearances are very important in Latin culture, which creates a lot of confusion and is the main reason our “telenovelas”, short soap operas, are so popular, from Mexico all the way south to Argentina, as a reflection of all the trouble messing with the truth creates.
Ruben and Juan Carlos did not stop at garage sales. Another thing we do not have in Latin countries are alleys. Our homes have the garage, or car ports, in the front. Alleys are a novelty. When we were done exploring sales, we would drive around suburban alleys looking for more stuff. This time — free. I remember their amazement at all the things that were thrown out. From furniture to small electronics, they would have taken it all if I had a bigger car!
Then came the best part. They would set up shop in my own garage and start fixing everything. Ruben would restore any old chair or frame into a work of art. A $1 bathroom mat would become upholstery and a little sodering would fix the mixer.
I kept visiting garage sales after they left. I later discovered estate sales. These were even better. Usually a whole life was on display here, and I found it hard to leave without buying something, making up stories about how the little bowl in my possession may have brought happiness to the deceased.
Estate sales also give you the opportunity to explore strangers’ homes and examine how they lived, what they wore, and what appeared important them. I particularly loved looking at their books and magazines. The best estate sales belonged to dead people that were pack rats like me. I couldn’t help thinking what a great sale they would have when I pass, with all the endless amount of crap stored up in all those boxes…
I don’t go to garage sales anymore. I have replaced that with open houses. The kids and I love nothing more than to stop at other peoples’ houses on Sunday afternoons. We do this, of course, when daddy is out of town. He does not partake of many of our forms of entertainment.
I am trying to break the habit of keeping everything, especially items that can be hazardous to your health. I have been made aware of the fact that you should not reuse ziploc bags or straws. No matter how much you wash them, apparently they can make you sick. I still have a very hard time throwing out the kid’s leftover cereal milk, or any food they leave on their plate. Chocolate boxes, old t-shirts, old toys, kid books, any books, especially books — everything has a story, a memory…
My habits have been found to strain a marriage, especially coming home from vacation. I pack my suitcase with every bit of leftover food and hope my hubby does not notice. He already thinks a lot of these quirks are a little obsessive. The Department of Homeland Security agrees with him and has made my life more difficult. One of the agents stopped me and found the port wine cheese I was smuggling in my carry on. I tried to argue that it was under 3 ounces, to no avail. No matter how much I pleaded, apparently it posed some great danger to our well-being…
June 17th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
ok, that one was the funniest yet. Probably because I remember with horror the re-using of disposable straws. SOOOO funny. It’s funny better b/c whenever I go to your house I throw things away and you never miss them. Old food, ripped bags, dilapidated cups and silverware. It’s funny b/c you give me all of the boys old clothes, many of which are wonderful, but a good many shirts and pants I throw away due to the rips and stains. You even give me half a set of pjs or one sock. I’ve even gotten poop stained underwear. It’s funny because the thought of you smuggling food into your suitcase and getting caught at customs is something I would pay to see.
I love you!!!! Thanks for making me smile.
June 28th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
OK – I was with you and agreed with you until ….. you got to your impulse to save your kids extra cereal milk. HUH??? Would you at least refeed it to the same kid who left it?
I would have loved to have gone garage sale shopping with the latin uncles and watched them later in your garage fixing and repurposing everything. So ahead of us Americans. I’m sure they would have also been puzzled that shows called “trash to treasures” could be so successful considering that latinos have been doing this for a long time. I wonder for how long we can continue as the disposable society. Maybe rather than reusing straws, we can realize that we don’t need them in the first place.
Shelly
November 17th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
The rich get richer!!! My friend Norma made $500 in a couple of hours having a garage sale. They bought all her old crap and thought it was just fabulous. I used to keep everything as well. Then I ran out of space in my closets, and am only down to the bare necessary 109 pair of shoes. The worst part is that Carla is the same…I miss Ruben and his fabulous projects.
I have a Colombian sister-in law-that comes here twice a year just to shop. I don’t mean just tourist stuff, it’s furniture, appliances, clothes for her girls, freakin groceries. Evidently our chocolate, juices, salad dressings, Splenda, cereal, assorted candies, gum, shampoo and other such items are soooo much better and cheaper here. That’s how I know the US dollar is becoming worthless. We used to go down there with $2000 and spend 5 weeks living in the lap of luxury, now we’re the poor bastards.
Geri, thanks for the space to vent!!! Monica and Norma say hi. You should come down next summer for Vince’s 50th in the Bahamas!!!!!