Saturday, November 8, 2014

Just the Way It Is:


As I call Atmos Energy to have my gas turned back on, after the furnaces have had their warm weather slumber. I have to think of the different ways that people perceive winter.  Remember, as a kid you begged, pleaded and prayed for snow?  As an adult you begged, pleaded and prayed NOT to have snow.  I fall into the latter group.  My days of being a kid have long since passed. It does not excite me anymore. Some people are manic about Christmas and all the details it involves. I love the reason and rarely the season.  Some people will actually say that they love snow and bad weather and like to get out in it.  I think those people will lie about other things too.  Here's the rub.  Winter, for about 95% of the antique and collectibles sellers out there, sucks. There are just fewer, much fewer, people out and they have other things on their minds.

Those that are out there are, and are perhaps, playing in it, are buying groceries or other essential things.  They are not looking to add to their book or antiques collections.  An old book, tea pot or pyrex bowl is not always at the top of the list.  I know, I know. When I first went into business I had visions of large comfortable chairs scattered in front of a fireplace, Pendleton throws tossed about,  stacks of books and men with beards and pipes and women with rosy cheeks and sexy boots, gathered around discussing art, Kentucky history and obscure cultural titles of little known books. While I, in my dapper plaid tie, wrap their parcels with brown paper and string. Hot chocolate is poured from various kettles and the music was jazzy and sultry.  As you can imagine, snow circled around outside and piled up in the windows. A good snowy day in the book and antiques trade.

Christmas window at the store from 2008
WRONG!  That scene doesn't not exist. I guess it would if you were independently wealthy or had a wealthy spouse. Maybe, if you lived in a warmer clime and your winter was really your summer. In reality, winter is usually hard and long.  The threat of  high gas bills looms large. The worry of property taxes is burdensome.  And some days, you have just a few customers, and they mistakenly come in looking for candles or plastic Easter rabbits to decorate their tables with. No, they are not interested in your German  paper mache rabbit candy containers. Mainly because they are $200.00 each and they can buy the rabbit they want at Marshalls for $12.00. They tell you this, as they stand holding the door open, as if you're Macy's.

Christmas isn't the same, in this trade, as it is in others.  People will come from Target and say to me, "Boy, they were wild!  I'll bet you're hopping all over the place."  Hopping yes, to jump over the water puddles that sneak in with the ice dam on the roof.  Lets face it, people want electronics and gift cards for electronics.  Not the stuff I sell. Now, I do have a loyal clutch of folks that buy antique gifts for the holidays.  But they're buying them for OTHERS that want that kind of thing. Can you imagine the horror of a twelve year old getting a set of the Leather Stocking Tales for Christmas? Hmmm I think I would have liked that gift myself.

Now, its not all doom and gloom, there are bright spots
.  I've survived twenty two winters, though I'm surprised when spring comes.  There are still some people that manage to come in. Perhaps, I should dig out one of my plaid ties. They might be looking for, hoping for, the very dream scene I described earlier. My tie and some brown paper is the least I can do.

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