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My husband loves to tell the story of his friend that came to him one night, many years ago. His friend "Gary" was known to have some problems. He loved the horses - not the kind you ride, but the ones that have jockeys and race around a track. He also liked barley-pop, he loved his beer! One night he pleaded with my husband to lend him $50 for groceries for he and his wife. My husband's response was "I know what you'll do with it - you'll spend it on gambling and drink!" Gary retorted - "that's what YOU think! I already have gambling and booze money, now I need money for food!" It is quite humorous and yet not that much different from we "collectors" who are addicted to our thing, whatever it is. I was in an antique mall the other day and saw a woman who was quite poorly dressed. Ratty pants, shoes that had one soul floppin', and a jacket from the 70's. She was buying a silver bracelet with a seahorse (one I would have loved to wrestle from her.) She paid for it (charge card) and left. I asked the gent behind the counter what that had sold for and he said "$275.00." Oh, I said. He went on to say she was one of their best customers and as far as he knew, everything was for her - not to resell. But she must have NEEDED that! I remember my sister shopping with me when I was working in my chosen career, an office manager at a manufacturing company. I was looking for crisp, white blouses for under my suits. She was appalled at the cost and shrieked "$30 for a blouse, do you know how many earrings you could get for that money?!" (And yes, she did truly shriek.) I told her that if I did not dress right, I could not even buy one pair. That did not make any sense to her. You see, she NEEDED more earrings. There are times when all of us "do without" so we can have that trifle we'd been wanting. When a "sparkly" is more important than a good meal. That is the fun part of life. If people just bought what they "needed", we'd have only one pair of shoes in our closet and our only piece of jewelry would be a wedding band. It would be quite plain, perhaps made of plastic from the little decorations on our store-bought wedding cake! HA! So we are glad for the many collectors, dealers and "antique addicts" that buy the unusual, especially from us. We could tell you stories - and we will continue to do so! Meanwhile, go out and buy a silly thing that others will scold you for. Just so you can surprise them with "but I NEED that!"
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