Friday, October 07, 2005

Thrift store Indiana Jones

Wading through an undulating sea of knick knacks and cast-offs. I feel like Jacques Cousteau exploring the millions of miles of empty unknown searching for a glistening stone buried among the sifting sands. Or a rare fish flitting about the sweeping green weeds. The thrift store is not always willing to cough up it's treasures though. She's a hard mistress, no... rather, a nagging old hag who loves to talk, gossip, and look for meanings in the bottoms of cups. However, every once in a great while I get lucky and find a designer shirt, a kitschy, colorful artistic work, or a sturdy pair of good boots.

How does the phrase go, it's not the destination but the journey? It's the hunt. The relentless, obsessive-compulsive search for that treasure everyone has somehow managed to ignorantly pass up. Today I count myself lucky. I find a powdered blue sweater that zips up in the front. The neighborhood of make-believe awaits. I have a very important dinner date with Queen Sarah and Henrietta Pussycat, and I'm 24 years too late.

The illusion is so much dreamier than reality isn't it?

What we all don't know, but should, is Fred Rogers was a marine sniper with over 60 confirmed kills. All head-shots. Lucky for us he left the beast in the steaming jungles of Korea, in a bamboo hut, sitting next to Colonel Kurtz.

A mentally handicapped woman smiles at me as she painstakingly rings up my purchase. My treasure. My booty. My diamond. All the while I whistle “Lullaby” by the Cure and think about Daniel Tiger and King Friday.

5 comments:

freethoughtguy said...

But I thought Mr. Rogers was a mellow man!

Deb said...

What's that old saying? One man's trash is another man's treasure? It does get frustrating walking through those stores---but the WORST case scenerio is trudging through a garage sale. Ugh. I don't know how my mom does it!

Mad Munkey said...

I'd love to sit down with you and a few glasses of wine and just meander through your mind. I don't say that much. I must be sick today.

Hermes said...

Freethinker. War is hell. It can change a man... for the better in some cases.

By the way, you look like David Hasselhoff.

Kathi. Wow, that is a wonderful compliment, I'm flattered. Thanks.

Puzzy. Haven't you heard? Geek is chic.

Deb. Because she'll one day be featured on Antiques Road Show showing off a very rare, very valuable, piece of Americana perhaps?

Mad Munkey. Do you mean that or is it just pillow talk?

Vexation. We all have inner demons, or angels, we keep hidden away.

Did you know that Jim Henson once took a.....

Rae Ann said...

I never did like the Mr. Rogers show when I was a kid. It was so not like my life that I couldn't relate. Not that my life was bad, but it just wasn't Mr. Rogers neighborhood. Hermes, you really are an excellent writer!