UPDATE: Here's the bear, refreshed.
Mr Furniture took my photo at work yesterday, on my request--I wanted to show how I got covered in sticky, old, plastic-pellet, stuffed-animal stuffing--can you see the little white spots all over me?
You can see my working conditions too--this is the donations area at work--note the uninsulated rafters.
I was de-stuffing this 1960s bear, which had been donated by its original owner--she was practically weeping when she handed him to me. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to give him away, but she said yes.
I put him out for $1.99, and he didn't sell within a couple weeks--the time during which a desirable item is almost sure to sell. Since he'd been entrusted to me, I couldn't throw him out, so I'll see what I can do.
First thing, get rid of the deteriorated, clumped stuffing that made him not nice to hug.
Yesterday three of my coworkers and I went on a field trip (my idea) to the new incarnation of Steeple People Thrift Store, where I used to volunteer. Its old building had been sold out from under it, and it took the opportunity to re-tool and re-fresh.
The first thing I noticed was CLEAN FLOORS.
Our store is a pit. I knew that, but seeing the contrast...
OMG.
One of our volunteers is a guy who is a flight attendant. He visits thrift stores everywhere he goes and ours, he told me, is the dirtiest.
My coworkers on the fieldtrip were blown away. One of them went back to the store and immediately redesigned our underwear section.
It had been an unsorted mix of men's and women's underwear, with socks, bras, boxer shorts, panties, even swimming suits all in one huge jumble.
And I went back and made a plea to my boss that we adopt the book-pricing system SP and most thrift stores use:
one price for paperbacks, one for hardbacks, and call it a day.
I said it would free me up to work on other things, like vintage.
As it is, I price each book individually, which is a waste of time.
Big Boss has always said he doesn't like uniform pricing, but for some reason, yesterday he said, OK, let's try it.
Then he repeated a suggestion he's made before--that I train other staff in to help me.
And I said again, I don't see WHO I could train.
Many people have told me they don't read (including Big Boss), and even that they hate to read, and I suspect some barely can read.
I truly don't see what I could train nonreaders to do that would free up much time. Also, I don't like asking people to do things they have said they don't like.
I think cutting out price tags will free up enough of my time.
Mr Furniture took my photo at work yesterday, on my request--I wanted to show how I got covered in sticky, old, plastic-pellet, stuffed-animal stuffing--can you see the little white spots all over me?
You can see my working conditions too--this is the donations area at work--note the uninsulated rafters.
I was de-stuffing this 1960s bear, which had been donated by its original owner--she was practically weeping when she handed him to me. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to give him away, but she said yes.
I put him out for $1.99, and he didn't sell within a couple weeks--the time during which a desirable item is almost sure to sell. Since he'd been entrusted to me, I couldn't throw him out, so I'll see what I can do.
First thing, get rid of the deteriorated, clumped stuffing that made him not nice to hug.
Yesterday three of my coworkers and I went on a field trip (my idea) to the new incarnation of Steeple People Thrift Store, where I used to volunteer. Its old building had been sold out from under it, and it took the opportunity to re-tool and re-fresh.
The first thing I noticed was CLEAN FLOORS.
Our store is a pit. I knew that, but seeing the contrast...
OMG.
One of our volunteers is a guy who is a flight attendant. He visits thrift stores everywhere he goes and ours, he told me, is the dirtiest.
My coworkers on the fieldtrip were blown away. One of them went back to the store and immediately redesigned our underwear section.
It had been an unsorted mix of men's and women's underwear, with socks, bras, boxer shorts, panties, even swimming suits all in one huge jumble.
And I went back and made a plea to my boss that we adopt the book-pricing system SP and most thrift stores use:
one price for paperbacks, one for hardbacks, and call it a day.
I said it would free me up to work on other things, like vintage.
As it is, I price each book individually, which is a waste of time.
Big Boss has always said he doesn't like uniform pricing, but for some reason, yesterday he said, OK, let's try it.
Then he repeated a suggestion he's made before--that I train other staff in to help me.
And I said again, I don't see WHO I could train.
Many people have told me they don't read (including Big Boss), and even that they hate to read, and I suspect some barely can read.
I truly don't see what I could train nonreaders to do that would free up much time. Also, I don't like asking people to do things they have said they don't like.
I think cutting out price tags will free up enough of my time.
I can't imagine pricing every book individually. Every thrift store I've ever been in (that I can remember) uses a flat-price system. Makes sense to me! (Unless something is an incredibly rare first edition or extremely unusual in some other way.)
ReplyDeleteOh, and hooray for trying to save Mr. Bear!
ReplyDeleteOne of my local thrift stores does price each book. It is always interesting to see what prices they put on certain books!
ReplyDeleteOther local thrifts will just do a flat price for books regardless of content.
Yeah, Mr. Bear was rescued! I hate to admit I still have some of my stuffed animals from high school so I know how the donator feels.
Kirsten
Oh, yes, please save Mr. Bear. I hope his donor doesn't have PTSD from giving him away.
ReplyDeleteI donated a silver bracelet that was given to me by my first serious boyfriend, in 1977, to a thrift store that benefits an animal shelter in upstate New York. It's a great cause, and I had not worn the bracelet in 30 years when I gave it away...but sometimes, I wish I still had it. It was a cuff, not a big one like they make today, a 1970s cuff, with engraving that, when I came to know a lot about jewelry as a gemologist and objets de vertus expert, I regarded as very rudimentary, and I lost interest in it.
Still. Sometimes I wish I still had that bracelet.
I had a terrible time reading and hated it, absolutely hated it! Teachers making you read in front of a class was just that absolute worst experience ever and I got labeled the dumb kid. It had followed me for 60 years. In my late 30's I discovered audiobooks and my world changed forever. The iPad and computer have also opened huge veranda doors for me.......... to this day when I pick up a book with pages and pages of letters and words and no illustrations or ....... well I just put it down and walk away. It also took me 50 some years to figure out I wasn't stupid.
ReplyDeleteIf I had TIME, it'd make sense to price books individually, since some paperbacks are worth far more than some hardbacks---
ReplyDeletebut it just isn't cost effective.
And it all evens out--sometimes the customer will get a super-great deal--but that's a GOOD THING about thrift stores!
STEVE: Yes, I'll still pull out special editions and price them higher--we even have a glass case for first editions and suchlike.
KIRSTEN: Aw, I love that you have your original animals. A squirrel got into and DIED in the box in the attic where mine were stored, so I had to throw them all away.
Releasing things can be liberating, but I am not a fan of pushing to give things away--there's enough brutal loss in life!
VIVIAN: I know, I too hope Mr Bear's owner isn't filled with regret... LATER.
Getting rid of things is an art--you don't want to invite regret...
I wish you still had that bracelet.
SANDY: Speaking of violence---making kids read in front of the class can be so traumatic!!!
But you grew up to be one of the best blog writers I know.
So there, Grade School Teachers!
One of my managers asks me for help writing things because she's a poor speller.
"I was in special Ed," she told me.
"BECAUSE YOU'RE SPECIAL!" I said.
No kidding!
She comes from a Hispanic family in Texas, and she's fluent in Spanish and English.
I can spell, but I only speak one language.
So who's the smarty here???
Grumble, grumble. It makes me sad and mad that people get judged as stupid for not being good at reading:
Reading is not something humans are naturally evolved to do--it came at quite a late stage in civilization and does not equate with intelligence:
for most of history, humans did not read & write!!!
I've been thinking about how others could help with the books and here are a few ideas:
ReplyDeleteHave them separate the hardbacks from the paperpacks and stack them in piles so that the titles can be seen easily.
After that you could print out where to find the dates on the inside cover. Books could then be separated into the years 70's, 80's, 90's etc. Let's face it any book from the 90's and 2000's on is probably the least valuable especially if popular fiction. Even if they piled them up by years where all of the titles are viewable you could quickly look at them and decide if they just go out to the floor or need more help.
If I lived closer, I would definitely come in and help!
Kirsten
Hi, KIRSTEN:
ReplyDeleteI wish you could come work with me!
Wouldn't that be fun?
Thanks for kindly thinking of ideas for ways volunteers could help.
That is so nice of you!
But I had to laugh a little because I think you're imagining my workplace as much larger than it is! :)
There literally isn't anywhere to separate books into piles.
I'm hemmed in with piles of donations, not just of books, but linens, clothes, electronics, etc. You know, people don't just donate items in tidy categories--these tend to be jumbled up with toys and dishes and garbage... in ripping paper bags...
It's an adventure!
OK, I do have a desk, but you may have seen that half the time its buried under donations too!
I do most of the sorting directly out of the boxes onto my library cart.
I'm pretty efficient because I can usually judge a book by its cover! with one glance.
I certainly would be willing to train people who were at all interested in books, but so far, it just feels like "make work", and there's a ton more useful things for my coworkers to do.
I've felt frustrated because my boss doesn't seem to get this--he seems to think books are just objects like cups & plates...
However--(I'm about to blog about this), yesterday a young woman came in to volunteer--a customer who loves our books section.
Working with someone who knows and loves books was a dream come true!
I spent a lot of time showing her the ropes and getting to know her, but then she just took off like a rocket, even coming up with her own ideas to reorganize the LP records!
(As media, they're sort of in my area, but they're a mess.)
So--there's hope!
Thanks for pondering this all with me. :)