Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Cheap Stuff is too Expensive

My 9 year old brother, Little Boy Blue, loves, LOVES to go to garage sales. Since we really aren't the type of family that gets up early Saturday to go rummage through other people's junk, I have no idea where his fascination originated. This past Saturday I made plans to run some early errands and asked Little Boy if he wanted to join me. He was so excited that he woke up on his own and got ready before I was done eating breakfast.

We finally left around 8:15. We didn't even make it out of the neighborhood before we saw two different garage sales. He really wanted to stop. At the first house we saw a sorcerer's hat that was a few sizes too small and a child's tent. The next house had some old shelves with various sport balls painted in patterns. Little Boy Blue is as athletic as I am - which means if the sport requires more skills than Paper/Rock/Scissors, I'm really not your girl. No sport ball shelves for us!

We took a break from the garage sales to run my errands. He was quick to point out all the sales we would pass on our return home. The first stop on the way back had various piles of clothes and junk. Little Boy Blue found a clear, plastic box filled with shredded paper and hay. He asked the lady what it was. She replied that is was a hamster cage. Little Boy Blue got SO excited. He turned to me with wide eyes and exclaimed, "Alright! Now all we need is a hamster!"

...uh, no.

I saw where this was headed. Sure, the tank was only $5 but then you gotta buy the hamster. And the food. And the wheel. And fill up the water. And change the paper. Pretty soon the little hamster is going to start whining because it's lonely. So hamster #2 comes along. Then you find out hamster #1 and hamster #2 are more than just friends and there's gonna be hamster #3, 4, and 5. Then you gotta get a hamster baby sitter and take hamster pictures and buy hamster baby food. Before long you'll be reading Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie every night after you do the hamster dance. That $5 is a little too steep for my budget.

We went back and bought the wizard hat for a quarter.

9 comments:

Saule Cogneur said...

When I was 10, I got a hamster. The next morning, the cedar chips seemed to have a mind of their own as the hamster I had received was on the opposite side of the cage. I wasn't sure what to think, but being the curious type I did a little digging.Lo and behold, I discovered now had 6 hamsters.

The event was a bit disconcerting but ended up being quite fun.

ME said...

I love yard sales, you can find the best junk! But no hamsters thank you.

Unknown said...

Oooh, ooh! I want a wizard hat!

I love garage sales. You never know what you'll find.

TUG said...

I need you to vote again . . . see my post "Farce"

Craig D said...

"Why are you wearing that Wizard's Hat?"

"To keep the hampsters away!"

"There aren't any hampsters around here..."

"See? It works!"

Bone said...

Awww, every kid needs a hamster.

We should play virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors! Although I'm not exactly sure how that would work.

robkroese said...

A hamster and a wizard hat could make for a neat magic trick.

Charlotta-love said...

Saule: 6! See why I didn't get the hamster.

Craze: I am actually starting to like them now. Hit and miss finds.

DD: You can have the wizard hat...for a dollar.

Craig: great magic trick.

Bone: one...two...three...ROCK. Did I win?

Diesel: Hmm...instead of a rabbit out of a magician hat...might work.

Shankar said...

I'm not sure about the hat, though. You pull one rabbit out of the hat, then another...pretty soon, they're multiplying like, well, rabbits.

Unless of course you've got the one that says, "Better make it...Gryffindor!"