Eavesdropping at Diversity Thrift

For me, shopping at Diversity Thrift is not just about buying clothes, although it does save my ass since I refuse to shop at malls or real clothing stores.

Part of it is the whole reuse, and recycle thing; the other part is just that I truly detest the conspicuous consumer mentality and don't want any part of it.

But I'm not a guy and sometimes I want new-to-me clothes to wear and that's when I head to the cultural wonderland that is Diversity Thrift.

It was obvious that lots of other people besides me had decided that the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon was thrifting, maybe for some warmer weather attire now that the constraints of winter appear to be behind us.

I'm tired of padding my body with endless layers just to leave the house.

Walking into the women's clothing area, I encountered a threesome of girls busy perusing and comparing notes on their finds.

"Isn't this such an Amanda shirt?"
"How about this one? Come on, this sweater has balls on it!"
"Hey, lady, are you afraid of balls?"
"No, I'm okay with balls."
"I only have issues with people who think with them."



That's what I'm talking about; Diversity is as enjoyable for the great bargains as for the social observations.

And another twosome:

"How about this? Would you wear this?"
"Come on, just because I'm from Florida doesn't mean I dress like a mom!"
"But you said you were looking for some mom jeans."
"Yea, I am getting kind of a pooch lately."



Meanwhile, I've found all kinds of great stuff in my size and have to leave this fascinating cultural study to try them on.

 At the register, I'm behind an old guy who is telling the cashier that every item he wants to buy has come from the half-off table and she's challenging him on most of them.

He finally gets a smile out of her by insisting that they should have come off the half-price table because he's a poor man and needs a deal.

When it's my turn, I get two dresses, two skirts and two tops for $15.23.

I'd call that a deal, no poor-mouthing required.

And the overheard conversations?

Priceless.