Have you guys ever been embarrassed by your thrift hunting, garage sale-ing, or side-of-the-road scavenging habits?
I have.
Sure, we all have to swallow a little gulp of pride when pulling junk off the side of the road or digging through someone else’s castoffs (well, I don’t think I have an overabundance of pride, so my gulp is pretty manageable).
But have you ever been really, truly embarrassed by it?
I have.
This happened a while ago, and for some reason I just thought of it recently. I was running, probably training for a race, when I ran by this awesome looking yard sale in the Avenues, which is a fancy, historic neighborhood where there are bound to be treasures. When I’m running hard to Daft Punk or Ratatat (or fine, I’ll admit it- Britney) there is little beyond oncoming cars and grossly protruding sidewalks that can break my concentration, but yard sales are up there.
Sweaty and panting like a malamute in Mississippi, tunes pumping in my ears, I stopped to admire all the fine wares. I was impressed at how nice all their stuff was, and spent some time wondering why the ratio of cool stuff to junk was so high. I was about to look around for someone manning the sale, when I saw it.
A moving truck.
With people hauling stuff out of it.
This is not a yard sale! This is not a yard sale! RUN!
I had intruded on someone’s goods whilst they moved into their new probably awesome eclectic and historic apartment. Inspected. Gazed. Maybe even touched- I can’t remember.
To this day I don’t know if they said anything to me, thanks to my earphones and quick escape.
Does anyone else have such a story of mortification and woe? Do share!
August 10, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Best. Story. Ever. I hope you sweat all over their goods.
Hmm…and I gotta think about embarrassing stories. How about an embarrassing life? Cuz that’s pretty much what mine is. OK. Well here’s one. It’s not garage sale related. But it’s embarrassing.
I was taking my car through a car wash. I rarely do this, so I decided to splurge, and hit up the car wash where other people scrub it for you. I was next in line when this younger, cute enough looking lad keeps gesturing at me. Me, being all smug thinks he is hitting on me, so I wave back in a flirtatious sort of way (Hold up. I have a boyfriend. Why am I flirt waving?). He keeps “waving”. I wave again, but this time a bit more awkwardly. He then walks over, and all the while I am thinking, “Omg, he is going to come ask for my number and I am going to have to let him down gently. I don’t want to break his heart. What am I going to say?”. And then he says it. “Ma’am, can you roll up your window so I don’t ruin your interior with the sprayer.” “Yep. Sure” was all I could squeak out, but inside I was screaming, “I have a boyfriend anyway, you jerk face.”
August 11, 2011 at 8:09 am
Hahahaha oh man- I have definitely had similar things to happen to me! It’s really tough on the ol’ ego! But soon you will be able to say, “I have a husband anyway, you jerk face.” And there’s nothing wrong with flirt-waving. Actual flirting- probably. But flirt-waving- totally harmless.
August 10, 2011 at 9:50 pm
Haaaahahaha! I absolutely love embarrassing stories!! Yours is a hum-dinger baby!! You cute girl. I’ve got so many of these….
Matt and Jonny used to have a shorter Latino employee they nicknamed Patiso (I have no idea how you spell it, but it means “shorty” in Spanish). When I met him, I was trying to be nice and friendly and asked him about his kids. I addressed him as Patiseo or something like that. Sooooo, he started laughing. So did Matt and Jonny. I just stared at them blankly in confusion. Not only did I just call him Shorty, but I mispronounced it as well. Sheesh.
August 11, 2011 at 8:11 am
I remember that! Actually Jonny and I were just talking about it yesterday. He said that “patiso” or whatever actually kind of means “pony” or something like it. So it’s probably like “short little pony guy”- I’m going to say that’s the official translation. Rachel, you’re too sweet for your own good.
August 11, 2011 at 5:09 am
Freakin’ hilarious. I can totally see myself doing that!
My thing is trash piles more than yard sales. The yard sales around here can be lame, but the things people put out for “bulk item trash” are pretty sweet. I always double-check that it’s really trash, though..for fear of running into the same situation you described above.
August 11, 2011 at 8:12 am
Yes, fortunately trash piles are a little more obvious I think. You bet I am MUCH more careful with garage sales or garage sale lookalikes now!
August 11, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Hahahaha, hilarious! I’ve been dumpster diving a few times in college, and once a guy laughed at me as I lugged away his tv entertainment console he had just placed there. I was mortified – but that didn’t stop me from continuing to haul away my free piece of furniture.
~Chelsea
August 11, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Oh, no! I love your internal monologue. I picture a little running robot, “Abort mission. This is not a yard sale.” and that makes me smile.
I’ve never had this same experience, but once in Belgium, I wanted to ask a woman walking by to take a photo of me and my friends. Since I didn’t speak French, I gestured by waving my hand with the (small) camera in it. She flipped her hand at me and walked by, which I thought was horribly rude. Suddenly, she turned back around and smiled. She had just realized I had a camera – before that she thought I was a hobo asking for change.
Needless to say, I no longer wear beanies, jean jackets or fingerless gloves.
August 11, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Hah, I can picture that yard sale story happening. Oops! BTW, I was reading some city codes the other day on a blog called Rose Park Revival, and I found out you’re only allowed to have two yard sales in an entire year. There are people who have one every weekend of the summer, lol.
I have an embarrassing story from when I was little that involves old stuff. When I was about 10 my mom made me clean out my closet, and I filled a bag with clothes and a bag with garbage. I was supposed to take the bag of clothes to my friends house to see if her little sister could use them. Somehow I managed to take the bag of garbage to her house instead. I dropped it off at their house before walking to school with my friend, so I wasn’t even there when her mom saw what I had actually sent over. How I walked a block not telling the difference between a heavy bag of clothes and a light, pokey bag of garbage, I can’t explain.
August 16, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Too funny! That totally sounds like something I would do too. And I would definitely run away as fast as I could!!
August 23, 2011 at 8:20 pm
LOL…. No, I can’t say I have a story like that off the top of my head… But reading about yours was hilarious!! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the laugh!
January 16, 2012 at 8:56 am
LOL!!! I love it!!! This is great! I’ve slowed down while passing movers without noticing the “moving truck” but never stopped. LOL! I love it!! Too funny! Thanks so much for linking up with us! We really appreciate it and I’m having a blast getting to know all of you!! This is wonderful!!
All The Love
Digger
January 16, 2012 at 9:10 am
[...] a linky party about embarrassing stories, and you should all attend. I shared my old standby “Most Embarrassing Yard Sale” story, and there are some other good ones too. I suggest you head on over [...]