A few minutes after we walked into Value Village, it began to pour rain, and I knew that I'd get my feet wet on the walk back. In the short term, thrifting can be a fruitless endeavor. I go to thrift stores weekly to twice weekly, and rarely purchase anything. In the sense of accomplishments, this is wasted time, but in the sense of opening oneself up to things, it's opportunity cost. That's the short term. The rewards are in the acquisition of interesting objects that I could not have purchased at full price, or perhaps at any price. These objects enrich my life. Today I bought the antlers of an eight-point deer. The points have been rubbed white. The skull cavity is still attached. I'll put it on my wall soon, but for now the rack sits on my desk with the points protruding dangerously off the edge. 14.99 buys decorative personality. And I bought some Solar Shield sunglasses, quite similar to a pair I used in Arizona which delivered the clarity of vision and depth of field that other sunglasses promise. Those had brown lenses, these gray, but they are otherwise identical. Those were 99 cents. My third purchase was a gray wool sweater, with cable patterns down the front, a polo collar, and a surprisingly deep placket. The label inside is in Chinese, and I plan to ask H. what it says so that I can properly follow the cleaning instructions. That was 6.99. For 25 dollars I purchased decoration which I doubt I would have found elsewhere, fine sunglasses at a fraction of the cost, and a sweater which I doubt one could purchase in the United States. This is the long term reward of thrifting: a unique complement of objects that are themselves unique. Sometimes you just get your feet wet, and sometimes you find something amazing.
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