Friday, February 6, 2009

Goodwill stalker

I met my friend Lorrie for lunch yesterday. We had to push our normal lunch time back, due to her business meeting running late. By the time we got to the restaurant, it was packed...with a wait.

We opted for Taco Hell, I mean Bell, across the street instead. The choice was made merely because there's a Goodwill next door.



I'm a garage sale junkie. Love them!!! Why? I don't know. Woman no longer have to leave their homes to gather nuts and berries for their families. Maybe this is a way to fill that now unnecessary instinctual need? Is it the thrill of the hunt?

Probably not.

Mot never used to understand...until I started coming home with stuff for him. A complete set of Dewalt power tools for $40 really changed his mind.

In the winter, garage sales are few and far between...actually, they are 100% non existent. The next best thing.....thrift stores.

As I was sifting through the racks of women's jeans and skirts, looking for some yellow tag $.99 deals, a random dude walks up and says "There anything good in here?"

I'm not the kind of person to judges, so if he was looking for women's clothing, more power to him. He was dressed in normal men's attire, but you just never know.

I told him I was having some luck, and went back to what I was doing.

Whoops!!! For the next 30 minutes, the man followed me from rack to rack.

He. Never. Shut. Up.

It was crazy!! Lorrie picked up on my predicament and came over to give me an "out." Unfortunately, I was having luck and had a handful of items. I didn't want to leave the area while the getting was good...so I weighed my options, and chose to stay. She went back over to the book section, smiling the biggest grin ever.

When it was getting closer to the end of our lunch break, I looked across the store and made eye contact with her. She came back over, and helped me to help with the escape.

He was average height, average build, probably in his 50's, and could talk like no one I've ever met. He talked about the weather here, about the weather in Florida and Georgia...he talked about eBay...he talked about the benefits of making unisex sweatshirts, because you could sell them to anyone.

The guy never once took a breath. :-)

Lorrie came over, and I told the dude I had to leave, but it was nice talking to him (even though the only talking I did was a "uh huh" every once and a while).

He followed us up to the register....still talking. He stood in line behind us....still talking.

Thank goodness he had to pay for his purchases, or he'd have followed us out to my car.

It's what I get for forgetting to put on my watch and wedding band that morning!!! Being flirted with is always nice, but why is it always a guy 20-30 years older than me? It's always been that way.

In fact, now that I think about it, I'm not sure how I managed to attract the attention of Mot. He's (gasp) in my age group. They never talk to me. :-)

5 comments:

Cowguy said...

Ahhh Goodwills and Salvation Armys... we can hardly pass 'em by and you do run into a few oddities of the human race in there at times.

Your stalker probably invented the jet engine or Sterno or something and just lolligags around Goodwill stores now as a hobby.

J.

Nej said...

They seem to seek me out. I'm the nice lookin' shopper I guess.

He was pretty harmless, but there was no mention of jets or Sterno.

I once rode a plane to South Korea sitting next to a drunk, who claimed he was a Christmas tree salesman from Michigan. Swore to me the cure for the SARS virus was cabbage, and scorned me ever time I gave the flight attendant back a napkin I hadn't used. Said I'd wish I'd kept those once we landed.

Luckily, he passed out early in the flight.

Vic said...

Hey! It's your Accidental Boyfriend!! Nice to commiserate with a fellow sufferer. :)

Nej said...

Oh, I hadn't even thought of that. That's exactly what he was!!!!! :-) :-)

It's nice to know I'm not alone :-)

Brook said...

Maybe our mom's raised us to be a little too polite. I very seldom wear my wedding rings-or any rings-so I get a few lurkers, though having kids with me cuts down on the leering. Never had one talk so much as yours did though!