I was folding my laundry today and came across one item that has an interesting (to me at least) story.
When I lived in Iowa, there was this one church that would have a thrift store that was open 4 hours a week during the winter, spring and fall. Each Wednesday, a dedicated group of us would line up in the hall of the church basement and wait for glorious ten o'clock to roll around, so we could see what was new. There was an unspoken rule that we NEVER told anyone about this place, to keep down the competition. It was sort of like a favorite fishing spot. You went just to go, whether or not you found anything. Gosh, I hated leaving them.
Someday I will write a sitcom about this and get Rip Taylor to play the kleptomaniac who was once kissed by Debbie Reynolds (on a talk show he appeared on because he looked like Rip Taylor).
Okay, I'll cut to the chase. This store was run as a hobby by volunteers in the church basement. They had virtually no overhead. The congregation was very wealthy (All the "old money" people belonged).
The church ladies regularly shook down the congregation for donated items. This assured us of a steady supply of inexpensive, but beautiful items. They used to sell T shirts and sweatshirts, regardless of condition, for a nickel. What I bought one week was a T shirt that said "NEPAL". I'm sure it actually came from Nepal, because the tag said "Made in Nepal". It was brand new.
Now I'm thinking, someone went all the way to Nepal and bought someone a T shirt, got it through customs and all the way back to Iowa, where the recipient gave it to a thrift store where it brought in a nickel.
Seems a bit unappreciative, if you know what I mean.
As for the giver, I speculated it was a local doctor whose Mt. Everest attempt was on the local news every day.
