Is it worth your trouble? (9/16/2023)

At the side of a busy road there is an area that is being using as a temporary swap meet.

Every weekend, except for the hot summer months, people show  up early in the morning and put their merchandise up for sale. A wide variety of items is available, from baked goods to bicycles, tools, toys, furniture etc.

We usually stop and check it out when we are in the area. Over the years we have bought some items but most times we leave empty handed. We really don’t need anything and there is another reason we don’t buy.  

The quality of the goods, or better said, the lack of quality is often the culprit. Some of the vendors have nothing better to offer than junk. We are certainly not interested in stuff that is broken, incomplete and dirty.

There is an elderly guy who is there almost every weekend. He arrives in his old beat up truck and fills a few tables with stuff that is not even worth looking it. It seems that he gathers every piece of scrap he can find.

Who would buy a length of dirty nylon rope, an old axe with a broken handle or some pliers that have been sitting in the elements and are rusted together? I cannot even imagine him making enough money to pay for the gas he uses to go back and forth.

And still, he keeps trying, week after week he drags the same rubbish out, sits there for 5 or 6 hours and then packs it all up again.
It seems to me that he would be better off just to discard the junk and be done with it.

May be he is bored and needs something to do even if he doesn’t make anything from is. May be he enjoys the company of his fellow sellers. Or perhaps he needs an excuse to get away from his wife. Who knows?