Wow, that’s a lot of stuff!
Is your house full of stuff? I’ve written before about loving comedian George Carlin’s old rant about how your house is just a place to keep your stuff, and if you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You have too much stuff, so you get a bigger house for your stuff, etc. It’s hilarious! I am a big practitioner of purging my stuff. I used to collect all sorts of stuff when I was younger, but now I just want to get rid of all of my stuff so I don’t have to clean it. I have way too much stuff.
Apparently, a lot of people have way too much stuff, and that’s where charities like Goodwill and the Washington City Mission come into the picture with their thrift stores. I can’t even tell you how much stuff I have donated to these spots over the years, but it probably could fill a giant truck by now.
An acquaintance told me about a big sale last week at the City Mission’s warehouse. I didn’t even know they had a warehouse, let alone special sales there, but it makes absolute sense. After checking out their website, the warehouse stocks eight local thrift shops and has these warehouse sales once every three months at the warehouse at 1000 Sheffield St. in Washington. She said the line was out the door early morning, an hour before the doors even opened and sent me photos of folks lined up to look at all the stuff! The pictures inside were impressive, with everything from coffee cups to Christmas decorations to clothing and even lounge chairs and dining tables that people have donated. We were messaging about how valuable and terrific thrift stores can be for both the donors and the customers (not to mention helping to fund charitable organizations and their good work), and she said she’d found a perfect handheld vacuum for $3.50 and an end table for $5.
It’s great to know they have a warehouse sale every few months to get rid of stuff they can’t fit in the stores. I’ve seen national news stories in the past talking about how some people use the thrift store donation centers to drop off stuff that’s just plain broken and worthless, forcing charities to have to pay to have it hauled to the landfill.
Judging by the photos she sent, there’s plenty of stuff at the warehouse sales to go around for everyone. I laughed because, at this point in my life, I can’t imagine buying even more stuff (even if everything is going for pennies on the dollar) when I still have an attic full of old stuff that I need to clear out! Then again, I could use a blender or a handheld vacuum cleaner.
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.