We’re trying to save lives here

We finished up with a three day 7 family yard sale yesterday which was more than just a business venture, it was a large social gathering, a party, and good time was had by all.

With some exceptions, yard sales are a microcosm of a materialistic society gone mad. A large percentage of what was sold were things that should never have been bought to begin with. We accumulate and hoard until the walls are bursting at the seams and we scream enough is enough and hope to recoup maybe 10 cents on the dollar of what we originally spent.

Some of the sales were feel good moments. A old man with a granddaughter about to give birth pulled out every dollar he had and said “give me all the baby clothes this will buy.” He was given over 80 pieces of like new clothing for $20 bucks and left with a smile knowing this kid would be well covered for a long while without  the family having to set foot in Walmart. These sales are actually a blessing for some who can’t even afford Walmart or the Dollar Store and we saw a great number of these folks. It’s the rural south and poverty is growing.

What’s the deal with women and shoes? Over 60 pairs were sold, none over $1. One lady bought her elderly mother 15 pairs, many unused, and said this will make her very happy and will probably last her the rest of her days. I heard a few ‘aahs’ from those around.

The big ticket items, $100 and up, didn’t sell at all. Everything from guns to guitars were taken back home. A nice set of congas I had got the most attention of all. Every kid and many of the adults visiting took a turn at banging the drums but no buyer.The highest price paid for anything was $50 for a solid oak locally made entertainment center that cost $600 new but only held a 27 inch TV. The new 52 inch big screen bought by the owner made that heavy duty piece of furniture ‘obsolete.’ 

When you have about ten to twenty people sitting around at any given time, the conversion will take a turn to politics. Dems, repubs, teachers, preachers, farmers, retirees, young and old alike have their opinions and like to get them in. We heard it all. Everything from the hype of sharia law is gonna’ get us, defending and attacking Obama, the declining economy, when is someone going to take out the bought politicians and even praise of Rick Perry as who they said should be our next president. There was a lot of talk about illegal immigration even as it seemed that every Mexican family from 20 miles around came in to buy a lot of stuff. No one refused to take their money. No one talked about the deeper issues of  who really benefits. No one denied that most are good workers.

Also, no one wanted to debate the criminal wars, the foreign policy domination of Israel and how we need to bring all the troops home. Too touchy a subject for most.

There was some encouraging talk. A good friend of my grandson who is also a senior in high school was there and I asked him if the military reciters showed up on the first day of school to prey on them. He said no but they would soon and that as of now none of his friends are considering joining. I said “great” and since I’m crude I repeated my standard rant about the reciters. “There’s only two words you need to say to them … get f***ed.”

He said that the military guys have been pounding the pavement saying that it takes young men like them to finish the job and that they got bin Laden and would get the rest too. This gave me the opportunity to get in the points that the ‘killing’ of bin Laden was a fake and it was all lies all the time.

Then came a good surprise. He said that a lot of people believe that 9/11 was done by our government. Of course that gave me the chance to get in a quick narrative of the major discrepancies in the official story including the exploding towers and building 7, Israel and the Mossad and the traitors in our government and media and the trillions of dollars spent on the wars blamed on 9/11 so that only a miniscule few could profit. He listened. I think he may be getting it. I told him to tell his friends.

At that point someone said “Maybe you shouldn’t be telling him these things.” My reply …

“We’re trying to save lives here.” 

Kids will talk about these things when adults often will not. Since when are teenagers trapped in a politically correct bubble like so many of their parents are? The propaganda may be hard to overcome but I’m somewhat encouraged. The truth is about all we’ve got left.