Tell me your best, worst, and/or strangest thrift shop experience. I know that you have at least *one* story to share.

-- suzen (suzen@neuki.com), January 12, 2001

Answers

when i was in the tenth grade i bought this really cool jacket from value village. the first time i wore it was on a day when a friend and i decided to go down to harbourfront to have a little picnic. halfway through the picnic i started feeling really.. weird. i developed these weird rashes on my neck and fingers felt like they were going to burst. it was disturbing. i went home, went to bed and felt fine a few hours later. the next time i wore it i got the same mysterious rashes and suddenly i made the connection that i was allergic to this fabulous new jacket. i brought it to the dry cleaners hoping they would wash away whatever i was allergic too, but no, every time i wore it i could feel the rash/discomfort approaching. i still don't know what exactly i was allergic too - it was just wool and polyester, 2 textiles that have never given me problems. i gave the coat away to my friend, and i still miss it.

-- teri (vlass@interlog.com), January 12, 2001.

my close friends and i often make trips to the thrift store, for halloween costumes and clothes to wear. my favorite trip was when i bought a shirt for 59 cents (you cant even get a pack of gum for 59 cents!!) and a painting for 99 cents. i love the thrift store.

-- beth dobson (tru@jab.nu), January 12, 2001.

Every year I volunteer to be a counselor at a camp about an hour away. Knowing that my clothes get all muddy and such, I buy tons of jeans and sweatshirts at the thrift store. Well, this year at camp there was a very attractive co-counselor with me who wanted to know who I knew who went to Cornell University (one of the many shirts I had picked up). Slightly embarrassed, I told him that I had bought it at the thrift store. He went off about it, saying that he thought he was the only one who bought corny clothes at discount prices...we've been friends ever since.

-- Tiffany (mapleberry@hotmail.com), January 12, 2001.