Take Me Back Tuesday: Behaving Badly Confession

It is no secret if you read my blog on a regular basis that I have for many years had a love for being thrifty and thrifty shopping. Now, along with that wonderful hobby of mine, many a story often follows from the outings.

It is a running joke between my husband and my son that he fully expects to get a call one day that I have had a free ride to the local jail due to inappropriate behavior on my part in the stores. My behavior at times may very well have been inappropriate but in my honest opinion....it was warranted.

NOTE: You may not want to read any further if you are afraid of being crushed at the fact that I am not always as sweet as I seem.... ahem.....I am going to show you my not so nice at times side today, but if you have the faith to check back tomorrow, you will see there was a reason for the confession of bad behavior today.

Without fail on several occasions, there seems to always be someone who follows me in these thrift stores as I shop and just seems to wait for me to put whatever treasure I have in my buggy back on the shelf. Always. Once, I had a milk glass punch bowl and cups in my buggy and for the longest time, I did not notice a lady who stalked me throughout the whole store. Finally, she asked me if I was going to purchase the set or what??? I looked at her and said yes I was and asked her what exactly she meant by the or what??? She informed me I had wasted a good part of the last hour of her time because she was waiting in the store for me to put the punch bowl set back on the shelf because she wanted it. Seriously, the "or what" made me so mad that day....I was at fault for taking up her time....this has happened so many times, that I really did not let this work me up too much that day...but there have been many times before.....

Once about 6 years ago, I was at half price day at Goodwill....and I was going through the racks of t-shirts to find some I could sell on ebay, which at that time was a pretty profitable business for me. I had a buggy full of stuff this one day, and the store was packed. I kid you not, there was a lady behind me and every time I put a shirt in my buggy and turned back to the rack, she took the shirts out of my buggy and put them in hers. When I caught her, I called her out on it rather quickly....and proceeded to take my shirts out of her buggy.... which you can imagine caused a small ruckus. About the time this was going on, one of the managers came rushing towards us like the store was on fire. He started waving his hands in the air saying, "Ladies...please..Ladies...there are plenty of things here for everyone...please....please....." I guess the poor guy thought there was going to be a knock down drag out right there on the store floor over some used t-shirts and he was a nervous wreck....that only fueled my anger that we had upset him....no that the lady who upset me, upset him....get the picture???? The sad thing was, I did not know her story, maybe she needed the clothes, maybe she just liked what I chose, maybe I should not have been so upset with her. But upset I was.......the nerve of that lady was all I could say to myself.

I could tell you stories all day that are very similar to these. It happens all the time, someone will grab what ever I have in my buggy and question me about it or just seem to almost want to take it from me right then and there. I know that should not upset me, but I don't really like it when this happens and it is all the time. Maybe if this happened only once in a while I would not get my hackles up so, but like I said, it is more that just once in a while that this occurs.

I like to shop in peace, I like the thrill of the find and I like it uninterrupted. Likewise, I have always given other shoppers the same respect. I have lots of times walked into a store and knew right away I was just a few minutes too late....someone had some really grand treasures already in their buggy and I missed out. My heart would sink a little for the fact I missed a great item, but that was it. Likewise, I would never think to ask them if they were going to put them back on the shelf because quiet frankly, my thinking is they would have never picked them up in the first place if they did not want them. So, I just forget it and go on. I don't stalk. I don't stare. I don't try to take what is in their buggy. I am not saying that I might consider doing any of these things, but I know how that type of thing drives me crazy so out of respect for fellow shoppers, I do not do it.

These are a couple of extreme happenings in a long line of crazy occurrences though out the years. On a lighter note, there have been some very wonderful conversations started up over an item at a thrift store or Goodwill with someone who just wants to talk, not take. Those conversations are usually very informative on an item, or a conversation will often be about a memory of something similar that was special. And although conversations like these have always been enjoyed, I can sadly admit today, before my friends here on my blog,  I have never once even considered giving up what was in my buggy. Not once. Shameful, I know.

This Take Me Back Tuesday, is really a two part post. The follow up will be up tomorrow. I am sure you are wondering why I would share this not so nice side of myself today. Actually, I am thinking it not a good idea to hit publish after all. I mean, it is crazy to tell your friends you have been so selfish at times that it caused a scene in a store that upset the workers. That when you had every opportunity to do a random act of kindness, you chose not to do it. That deep down you have felt guilty over your actions but push that guilt aside. I have been all of these things and more. It took a single moment in time this last week to bring all of the nasty attitudes to the surface once again and the lesson was so simple, it was shameful. And in case you are wondering, it did not involve that phone call to my husband.

Yes, I really enjoy my treasure hunting....but at the same time, I know I would have enjoyed offering a random act of kindness to many of these individuals who only saw my not so nice side. Shameful. Next...you will see just how shameful it has been compared to a random act of kindness from a stranger with a much kinder heart than mine......I hope you come back for the rest of the story. If you followed this to the end, well, thank you for stopping by for this Take Me Back Tuesday. You may have noticed that there are no pictures, because frankly, I could not even think of any to go with this post......and that is a first for me.