This is my sixth year participating. I wanted to help the first year, but being pregnant with MLB and working a temp assignment, I had neither the time nor the energy to help out. But I did want to, and I did get up there to shop & get my car washed. (We'd had a spell of mild winters with early springs, so the youth were washing cars, too. That only lasted 2 years, and then it got seasonably cold & wet again.)
When I did get the chance to volunteer, I got assigned to the "Toy Room," and I freaked out inside. I could just imagine every parent leaving their children in there to play & trash things up & not buy a thing, with things walking out & needing constant neatening. But I really wanted to help, not make waves, so I figured, "Eh, I can do it this year, and if I don't like it, I can ask for another assignment next year."
After one year, I was not only hooked, but I LOVE my "Toy Room."
Now, I guess I should explain how our rummage sale is set up. Many places use their general meeting spaces to set up & have tables or zones of merchandise types. We use our religious education classrooms, which is why we need to schedule it during a time where we can get a week without classes and without a true vacation. Each classroom holds a different type of merchandise, like books & other media, holiday bric-a-brac & craft supplies, men's clothes, etc. When you select items in a room, the sales staff bags the items, ties it up and writes the total price on the outside of the bag. You pay before you leave out the front door. We've seen people bring up dozens of bags to pay off, and so we have the youth help folks tote their stuff.
My room is full of toys, and it is fun. There are more adults shopping than kids, and everyone is very mannerly. The kids are often shy, but get tickled to be able to shop for themselves. We do not make deals with the adults until later in the morning, but we often find a discount for a kid or two. I also work with some great ladies. Cathy has been doing this since year one and has a great sense for pricing things and set up. Luzma started two years ago, as well as Sharon, and they really get in there on the day of the sale to help rotate inventory and help out the customers. Michelle joined us last year, and also has an eye for set up and is quick with the sale day bagging. My talent is that I'm passionate about this stuff.
It's true! I'm crazy, but I love it!!!! I will show up every day that I can to help unload cars & move stuff to the rooms. I start fluffing and organizing toys from the get-go. I check the media room, craft room & baby room for our stuff, and take them items from my room that would sell better in those locations.
I'm also the "Bag Lady." You know how, as kids acquire and play with stuff, that a lot of little things pile up? Happy meal toys, misplaced game pieces, odd tinker toys, things like that? People bring it all in. And I have a talent for finding the pieces that go with a game or a doll house and reuniting them. I have a talent for taking all the flotsam and jetsam, and making small, themed grab bags that we can sell for twenty-five cents. So a kid who likes dinosaurs can get one with all dinos, and a girls who likes puppies will find a bag of little bitties. I guess I just like a challenge, or maybe it is the curse of all recovering pack-rats. Idunnno. But I love it.
As I said, I'm there as often as I can be. I was even there half the days last year, and all day of the sale. Which wouldn't be surprising, except DLG was less than a month old. And I'd had a C-section. (So, I didn't do any heavy lifting last year. But everyone adored seeing the baby.)
It was last year that I had to admit I'd found something to be passionate about. There are enduring passions that anchor you, like your spouse and children; those are passions that have slowly built and will continue to grow & abide & nourish. Then there are passions that are great conflagrations to invigorate you and get you moving; it's a pace and intensity that you cannot sustain for long, but for the short time it gets your blood singing, your feet dancing and adds a spice to everything else you do. I once goggled at some NFL-fan friends who went ahead and held their wonderful annual Super Bowl Party, even though they'd just had a baby five days earlier; I'd said I couldn't do that. Boy was I wrong. Everyone needs these sorts of passions. They might seem silly to others, and maybe even to ourselves. But they are OUR passions. Maybe not a raison de etre, but a good reason to get up in the morning.
Go get passionate.
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