Bought out of spite

[captain_slinky]

I went to the Goodwill Outlet today (I'v spoken of my addiction before, I'm sure) and made an enemy I think?

They had just rolled out a fresh new bin full of records (TEN CENTS EACH!!!) and I started thumbing through them, finding some pretty awesome titles from the 60's, 70's and 80's. In the pile I was looking at, I distinctly remember seeing Elvis Costello, The Beatles, Petra, Krokus, Kiss, Talking Heads, Ramones, Black Flag... we're talkin' REALLY GOOD VINYL here.

As I was about to inspect a copy of The Beatles Rubber Soul, this GUY just pushed me out of the way and grabbed ALL THE RECORDS. He THREW them in to his shopping cart, fast and furious. I looked at him and said "Aww MAAAAAAN! I was gonna look at all of those!"

The GUY went in to a RAGE at me. "YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE YOUR TIME AND LOOK AT THESE THINGS PEOPLE WANNA BUY THIS STUFF I'M GONNA BUY THESE YOU SHOULD HAVE MOVED FASTER YOU CAN'T JUST CALL DIBS ON STUFF YOU GOTTA GET IT IN YOUR CART THAT'S WHAT I DID YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE NOW GET OUT OF MY FACE!"

I let it slide. I've dealt with territorial Goodwill shoppers before, best to just be at the opposite end of the store from them at all times.

I took some consolation in discovering that the copy of Rubber Soul I had managed to grab was *cracked*. With any luck, that guy just bought a shopping cart full of vinyl shards.

So later on, I stumble upon a pretty nifty treasure that I'm sure nobody actually knows what it is; it's a 1964 portable "suitcase" record player. Have you ever seen on of these things? Speakers fold out of the sides, turntable folds down out of the front... it's just so very James Bond :)

Almost immediately I see why this item has been passed over so many times, and THE GUY is yelling at me from a few bins away "DON'T BOTHER WITH IT, IT'S GARBAGE! I JUST TOSSED IT BACK, YOU IDIOT!" The needle and the head are completely detached from the needle arm. First thing I do is I take it over to the electronics testing station to make sure that it powers up (it does), then I start looking to see just how hard it would be to fix this problem.

All it needs is one small screw, which I find and remove from a broken Buzz Lightyear doll with my handy-dandy multi-tool (never go to Goodwill without one). THE GUY is watching me do this the whole time. I go over to the records (the cruddy Christmas records that no one wants and even THE GUY passed up) and choose one to start playing.

The record player works *beautifully*.

At this point I'm thinking "Oh geez, it works! But do I really need another record player? I barely use the on we have..."

And then THE GUY yells at me, exactly like this, "HEY GIMME THAT RECORD PLAYER!" Not a request, not a "oh gee now that it works I think I want that item", but a straight-up "GIMME THAT RECORD PLAYER" like I had stolen it from him and it was already his.

"Naaaaaah, I think I'll buy it."

Comments

[musical-junkie.livejournal.com]

And now you've got a rad new record player, and THE GUY has a box of broken records. Point: Brian.

[penelopes-web.livejournal.com]

argh...when I see/hear about people acting this way my first instinct is to get pissed off, I mean how dare they...then when I calm down it just saddens me that there are people who actually act like that.
I hope you enjoy the record player...from what I"m told ( by the hubbyman/ex DJ) you can never have too many record players or records!

:))

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Your husband speaks the truth!

[pete23.livejournal.com]

Revenge is a dish best served at 78 rpm.

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

And when you get tired of your new toy, odds are pretty good you would be able to sell it online for a good price. So your satisfaction will be doubled. You snatched a bauble away from an undeserving person AND made a profit.

[aurora77]

*shudder* Dude seriously needs to chill.

[aquatwo.livejournal.com]

Seconded

[dagna76.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful story! Im excited for your find. Id love to find one of those old childrens box record players - in denim. I have tons of these old Disney 45s that came in books. I finally got a record player last year, but its just not the same without the neat little player. Maybe I should spend more time at Goodwill.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

I still have the record player in this video link, sounds exactly like the type your looking for (though not denim)... I think the speaker is going out, though... if you would be interested in purchasing it for... I dunno, $15? Just let me know and I'll start checking it for any problems :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AukmtbObY6Y

...Because it needs a good home and Disney 45s are the perfect home :)

[dagna76.livejournal.com]

That is pretty freaking cool! But its not exactly what Im looking for. These were an actual box with a handle and a latch. I had several, but my favorite was the denim one. Thanks for the offer though!!

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

No problem :)

I've owned that denim one before, too... it may have been my first one as a child :)

Pooh is my current favorit for pure design, with the flashing lights and the Disco theme to it :)

[dagna76.livejournal.com]

It is very cool. And if I wasnt staring down a move & the realization of how much *STUFF* we own, I might have gone for it.