Up before the sun, dragging boxes to the driveway. Staking signs in yards at intersections. Folding clothes and stacking them in piles. Lining up the souvenirs of Christmases and birthdays and coupons past: Matchbox cars, stuffed animals, action figures, coasters.
“What we doing?” he asks.
How do I explain the great American tradition of the garage sale to a five year-old with a tenuous grasp on the English language and, until recently, only possessions enough to fill a small cardboard box.
“We’re selling our stuff.”
“All the stuff?” he asks.
“No, no.” I pat him on the head trying to convey we’re not selling all your things without actually saying those words out loud and planting that fearful thought in his mind – if it’s not already there behind that stunned expression. (Who knows what’s there?)
“We’re selling some stuff we don’t want anymore.”
And then comes the question always asked.
“Why?”
And this time I think he actually wondered.
“We just don’t need it anymore so we’re selling it.”
“What is snail it?”
“Seeeelllllliiiing it,” I say loudly, because everyone knows this awakens parts of the mind to the definitions of words it has never heard before. “Selling,” I explain, “is when we give people things and they give us money.”
We talk about giving dollars to Chick-fil-A in exchange for nuggets and french fries and all is clear. He has a firm grasp on this transaction foundational to capitalism.
What he doesn’t understand was where all this stuff came from and why we were selling it.
The first question is easy. The stuff came from inside the house. Some of it was bought and some of it was given. Some is old and we don’t like it anymore. Some of it we never liked. I don’t recall drug use in my testimony but some of it is proof that I, at one time in my life, made purchases under the influence.
Some of it we like but not as much as other stuff we want. Which leads to the second question: “Why you selling stuff?”
He crouches next to me, his face contorted by the insanity of the situation.
“Why you selling stuff?”
“To get money…to buy more stuff,” I say.
“Huh,” he grunts and stands to watch a woman haggle the price of a fifty cent t-shirt down to a quarter.
Jamie {See Jamie blog} says:
Wow. I’ve never thought of trying to explain the logic of a garage sale to someone from another culture. It is pretty crazy, isn’t it?
NancyTyler says:
Hope your sale turned out well!
I’m clearing out stuff today too. I contemplated a yard sale but I wasn’t quite up to the heavy duty haggling that happens in the community where I live. Gonna donate everything to church, the Lupus Foundation and the women’s shelter thrift shop instead and catch the tax deduction later.
I’m almost finished reading “The Hoarder in You.” A life-changing read, as it turns out. Back to digging out my basement…
Prudence says:
I love seeing the world through his eyes. Thank you so much for sharing these nuggets Shaun.
Lindsay says:
Son, we’ve got too much stuff. So we’re selling it so we can buy more stuff.
I can’t imagine why that’s hard for him to understand.
LOL! I’d never thought of it that way before.
Katie Axelson says:
Even though both of us are bilingual, I had a hard time explaining the idea of a baby shower, bridal shower, et al to my 20-something friend from Argentina. I can’t imagine garage sales to a five year old… Well done, Dad.
Katie
Sharon @ Hiking Toward Home says:
… and the refrain of “enough” is now running through my mind. We have the same ‘problem’ in our home and need to sell it. Every time I listen to that song I think of how much JUNK we keep dragging around with us every time we move and how some of our dear friends live in poverty in the southern Philippines in homes nailed together of bamboo and thatch and tin.
Jamie says:
Sounds like he will keep you honest and keep you on your toes wondering, “why do you do this?”
We need more of his perspective. My kids who are his age need more of his perspective.
Jessica says:
Such a cultural thing. When we were living in Germany I tried to have a yard sale. The ONE person that came, was very confused, despite my attempt to explain the concept. And he was a grown man…
We had a yard sale a few weeks ago, too. Gotta get that gas money to drive to Canada some how. 🙂
Zoë says:
Alien concept to me, too. Do people really come along when you’re selling things? How do they know about it? Do lots of people come? Is it like a jumble sale but in your front garden? Do you not have charity shops (or ebay)?
Shaun Groves says:
Really?
Well, we just put stuff in our driveway and people show up and buy it. For next to nothing. I sold a grill for $10, for instance. Cheap.
Some people put their garage sale in the newspaper but we don’t. People just driving around neighborhoods looking for them in these parts. Starting very early in the morning. We were set up by 7AM and sold half of our junk by 8.
Everything that didn’t sell went to Goodwill.
Zoë says:
Fascinating cultural insight. I now know what a garage sale is. I would never have known if it wasn’t for Sambhaji’s bafflement. I would have had to carry on guessing from clues in Calvin & Hobbes strips!
Triston Lajon says:
Hope the sale went well. So interesting to read these stories of the third world trying to understand 1st world culture. In some ways it makes you think they are 1st world and us 3rd world. Amazing.
saravarghese says:
He is so beautiful.