The mall, a park, the beach, or your town’s most popular promenade are prime places for people watching. So are garage sales.
We recently advertised one on Craigslist and met more people in those three days that we usually meet in a year. Here are a few real-life characters.
A lady who would be hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 20 (she purchased chairs and pillows along with a stained glass lamp with a soft, glowing light). Are you doing all the cooking? I queried. Yes, she responded proudly, in our new home.
An out-of-college twenty-something who drove up with his roommate in a Budget moving van. Friendly and on schedule, he checked off the items he needed from a prepared list. They purchased office chairs, desks, and some furniture in anticipation of a business they planned to launch.
A young lady moving into a house after traveling in a minivan with her dog across the country for the past year and a half (she got some handy kitchen items and a Mexican chess board).
A wild squirrel rehabilitator (can’t remember what he purchased).
A horse lover buying a blender to grind flax seeds for her steed.
A single mom starting over in California (she needed a futon).
An attorney-bibliophile who wrote a bum check for eight bucks!
A soon-to-be film producer who wanted the authority a raised director’s chair would give him.
Quite a cross-section, all at different stages.
So when you’re ready for Spring cleaning ~ or whatever time of year you schedule your household clear-out ~ and decide to host a garage sale, you might want to combine your latent merchandising skills with people watching and turn drudgery into a pleasant observation of human nature.
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That’s quite a cast of characters you mentioned.