Bang!Zoom! Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I have no idea what it is with some people, it's like you need battle gear or something. Cart aggression, "excuse ME, I was just going to pick that up.." blah blah blah. Exhausting, totally not worth it either. Some commiserate with me. I'm whipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaddon Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I went one time to the goodwill outlet with my cousin. It was fun, but wow people were aggressive. I hated that they would bump you out of the way and you had to watch your cart from something being taken out... I don't even like to go to the grocery store during normal people hours, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I avoid the big thrift store sales for that very reason. The way people act, you'd think it was a Gucci clearance sale or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 Yep, I had a cart taker outter today too, finally we ended up turning it into a game, I stuck the most disgusting stuff in my cart, made up a big big fat lie about how valuable it was, and then purposefully walked a few feet away, turned my back and she TOOK IT OUT. Someone has a made in China quilt at their house tonight along with some Gibson water glasses made in India...lol- we were laying bets on her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 99 times out of a 100, I can go into our local thrift store and everyone is cheerful and polite - both employees and customers. And then - it must be a full moon or something - the oddballs come out of the woodwork. Cart-Takers, Line-Cutters, Dressing-Room-Stealers (at least let me have my own clothes back first!), the ones that throw clothes on the floor after they take them off the rack. Oi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 99 times out of a 100, I can go into our local thrift store and everyone is cheerful and polite - both employees and customers. And then - it must be a full moon or something - the oddballs come out of the woodwork. Cart-Takers, Line-Cutters, Dressing-Room-Stealers (at least let me have my own clothes back first!), the ones that throw clothes on the floor after they take them off the rack. Oi! It was so bizarre in fact, I had to go check the cycle of the moon, you are right...it's a full moon, go figure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshin Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I've never run into those types here, but when I lived in NM crazies at thrift stores were common. All the usual behaviors -- taking stuff out of carts, shoving me out of the way to grab stuff. I even had an (older) woman once snatch some baby clothes out of my hand, then inform me it was okay because she needed them more than me! I snatched them right back! But here, the thrift stores are always pleasant. Well, except for one in the week leading up to Halloween. I tend to go in the mornings on weekdays, though, so I can avoid the crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 A few times we've witnessed some craziness at local thrift stores. Once, I stood in shock when I noticed that the young child being berated by her mother a few moments before about needing a restroom was then peeing in the aisle. The woman noticed and swatted the girl on the rear and took a handful of clothes from the rack, wiped up the urine, and then moved a few inches down to continue perusing. The young girl stood there shaking and clearly humiliated. We told employees. Another time, there was a young boy in front of us. He was buying a large plastic dinosaur and was $.04 short on the tax. I told the cashier to go ahead and just add it to our stuff and then told the boy to have a nice day. He very clearly was shocked and had no idea what to say. I just smiled and he took his dinosaur and left. The cashier, though, just about jumped over the counter and yelled at this kid to say "thank you". Not that big a deal. It was embarrassing. The only other time that I can think of was once I had spied two nice looking metal table fans on a shelf just high enough that I didn't feel comfortable bringing down two heavy metal fans from. So I stood there holding on to both, as a way to show DH which ones I was asking him to reach up and grab down. As he's reaching for one a woman comes out of nowhere and grabs the other out of my hands and RUNS for the counter. I couldn't help but laugh. Other than that, though, usually everyone is very pleasant and we don't find many crazies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I haven't encountered weirdly rude people at the local Goodwill. Around here the worst offenders are the ones who let their kids loose on the toy aisle and pretty soon all the toys are off the shelf and on the floor. The employees have had to really crack down on that. It has gotten a bit better but there are still those who do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 My only thrift store crazies have been employees. Once, my lil' girls were standing at the toy shelf, looking at toys. I was 3 feet away, at some shoes. An employee RAN halfway across the store to emphatically tell them that they must be WITH THEIR MOTHER. The look on their faces were like "wha...?!" as they turned to look right at me. Sheesh. Another time, we dropped some stuff off at the Goodwill. I rarely go to the GW, we have a local PTA thrift store I prefer. Anyway, the supervisor told an employee to go around back and help us unload our bags at the back door. Well, that employee was the rudest, surliest individual ever. DH and I were appalled at how this person responded to us. I mean, gee, we were just trying to make a DONATION. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I haven't had many instances at thrift stores. Most of the time I haven't experienced the craziness you describe. One time my ds who was a toddler at the time was throwing a fit because he wanted a toy but I was not going to buy it for him. I left the store since he was screaming airplane toy airplane toy. I wasn't going to give in to his screaming and I was leaving so he no longer would be a disturbance in the store. This older lady gave me the nastiest look ever and said something about terrible parenting. That is the only incident I can think of. There is one cashier that seems a little grumpy but it isn't too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I've encountered a lot of nice people in Goodwills, generally, but they can have cranky people unloading (the nice people are always out front) and there are always the stores with 1 changing booth which someone hogs with 50 outfits and then has the guts to ask people to get them more while 10 or so people are waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Darinski Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 My DH could tell you some doozies as he has worked at our local Thrift Store for the past 11 years. He has seen the very best and the very worst in human nature, and this from the customers as well as staff. There are certain times we jokingly ask ourselves if the 'freak beacon' is on, or we say that we are the 'freak beacon' of the universe. ;) Good thing God loves us all! :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 One time my ds who was a toddler at the time was throwing a fit because he wanted a toy but I was not going to buy it for him. I left the store since he was screaming airplane toy airplane toy. I wasn't going to give in to his screaming and I was leaving so he no longer would be a disturbance in the store. This older lady gave me the nastiest look ever and said something about terrible parenting. How bizarre. Did she mean because your son was yelling (surely the first toddler ever to do that...) or because she thought you should give him the toy? Either way, what rudeness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I thrift shop all the time and have never had a problem BUT there is a church that once a year has a free "sale" it is a share and wear event where the community can drop off clothing, toys, furnishings etc leading up to it and then for 1 day they open the door and everyone can take what they want for free. This is in an affluent community so not an area of low income etc (cheapest rental in the whole city is close to $1000 a month for a 1 bdrm apt type of affluent). After attending the event once as a "shopper" I swore never again. After that I always volunteered, because the volunteers got to shop for and hour before the doors opened to the public. Those people could be down right vicious, with pushing and shoving, ripping items right out of hands, the cussing and pure greed and meanness, all in the church sanctuary. Great swap every year but people are crazy. I have not participated in it since moving out of the city, 2 hours is too far to go even for free stuff. The stuff at the goodwill etc is so not worth dealing with crazy. I never go on the big sale days at one of the thrift shops because I have heard stories like what you posted, and I just don't have the patience for idiots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I thrift shop all the time and have never had a problem BUT there is a church that once a year has a free "sale" it is a share and wear event where the community can drop off clothing, toys, furnishings etc leading up to it and then for 1 day they open the door and everyone can take what they want for free. This is in an affluent community so not an area of low income etc (cheapest rental in the whole city is close to $1000 a month for a 1 bdrm apt type of affluent). After attending the event once as a "shopper" I swore never again. After that I always volunteered, because the volunteers got to shop for and hour before the doors opened to the public. Those people could be down right vicious, with pushing and shoving, ripping items right out of hands, the cussing and pure greed and meanness, all in the church sanctuary. Great swap every year but people are crazy. I have not participated in it since moving out of the city, 2 hours is too far to go even for free stuff. Oh, gracious, yes. Our library's used book sales get downright violent. Some of the dealers grab huge piles of books and squirrel them away in a corner so nobody else can see them. Other people argue about the prices (a dollar a book, a quarter for kids' books, and all proceeds going to the library). Volunteers add more books to the tables, as there's not enough room at the beginning, and people shout at them because, "Now I don't know which ones I've looked at!" People complain over and over that the volunteers can't tell them whether a specific book is available. Customers smugly inform the volunteers that Three Cups of Tea now needs to be on the fiction table. There aren't as many books as at the [nearest big city] sale. There are too many books and it's confusing. There aren't enough cookbooks/kids' books/westerns. There's too much smut. There's not enough smut (seriously...someone complained that there wasn't any p-graphy). Why was there no Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? What do you mean the Garfield comic books aren't still here on clearance day? WHY is there no snack bar??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I've never been to a thrift store. I've been to flea markets. That's kinda like a thrift store/giant tag sale. I don't have crazy stories except to say that some people try to sell some very strange cra*. Wendy, I wanted to say I love your cat and I forbid you to ever change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Thankfully I have not encountered such craziness in any thrift I've been to! I am glad! There was that time, though, when that awful mother reached down to pick up her cranky 4 year old and scratched the poor kid in the eye with a hanger and had to leave the store and take him to the doctor because he was screaming and clutching his eye. Wait... that was me... it may be awhile before DS and I can shop in the thrift store without feeling traumatized! (he was ok, btw!) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Good experience: I once volunteered in a downmarket thrift in a very downmarket area and this guy came in dressed all flash and in a hurry, looking for shoes in his size. He came off as brisk and therefore rude and we were not impressed. (Hello? This is not Macy's!) THEN he explained that he was about to catch the bus for a job interview (thus the flash clothes, and the hurry) and he needed shoes - we changed our attitude right quick and helped him find a pair that worked. Lesson learned, on our part. Not so good experience: The old guy who talked to me at some length and detail about how certain numbers were strange and interesting. WHY do those people always talk to ME? WHY do I always LISTEN politely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Last time I was at a thrift store, a woman was talking loudly to a cashier and anyone else who'd listen about another woman who had just left the store. She apparently had a warrant out for her arrest and the woman inside was calling the police because the woman outside had broken into a mutual friend's house. I thought the inside woman sounded rather "off" herself. That's my one and only story, and nothing happened. Someone in a pickup picked up the outside woman before the police got there. I've never seen rude or crazy behavior other than evidence that people have been sloppy and careless, leaving clothes and other items on the floor or in a pile in dressing rooms, trashed restrooms, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 How bizarre. Did she mean because your son was yelling (surely the first toddler ever to do that...) or because she thought you should give him the toy? Either way, what rudeness! I think because he was yelling. He has an articulation delay and can be hard to understand now so I doubt she understood he was saying airplane toy as a toddler. I was obviously making my way out of the store pretty fast and I was staying calm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I've never really had any crazy experiences, but there was one time that we were dropping off some clothes as donation. The sorting room is at the back, so you have to walk through with your donations. I had just set the bags on the floor, right in front of the volunteer taking the donations at the back when a woman sidled up behind me, reached around and snatched one of the bags. She was a fast little snatcher, too, because she was halfway to the front door by the time I turned around. She actually left with it, too. I was speechless. The volunteer said, "well, she must really need a bag of who knows what very badly." We laughed and I forgot about it until this thread. Made me laugh again. Thanks. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I've had the experience at a second hand book sale. I packed books in a box I placed in a corner (with my shopping bags covering them) and as I turned my back someone took the best ones out. I did not notice the first time, but the second time I went back and noticed that a book I had been very excited to find had dissapeared. And there it sat very obviously in somoene else's box..... I stood staring at her and she just stared right back. She obviously knew they were mine. I was too flabbergasted to demand 'my' books back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have somehow never run into a crazy in an op shop before. :closedeyes: I have however several times pointed out to differing op-shops that they actually have some of their things priced above the price of buying the product new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have somehow never run into a crazy in an op shop before. :closedeyes: I have however several times pointed out to differing op-shops that they actually have some of their things priced above the price of buying the product new. I did this once when looking for a baby gate. The thrift store price was$10 higher than Walmart for the same brand. I got a crazy yelling at me response. I left. never have gone back to that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 WHY is there no snack bar??? This made me LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8circles Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 DH is at a Goodwill several times a week & I'm there at least monthly. I've never seen any "crazies" there. Sometimes the kids need more supervision by the toys but that's minor. I've commented often that people who shop there are quite pleasant. Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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