Observations From The Charity Shop

Artwork by Linda Van Hove

It’s another day in our little Bateau Bay charity shop. The donations are arriving, some in black bin bags, others in totes that have come from expensive shops. Such an array of pre-owned goods, from the wonderful to the hideous, from brand new, to the old and worn out.

You can tell a lot about a person from their op shop drop offs. Some bags look like the previous owner has swept into them the garage floor, along with dead cockroaches and used painting clothes — just shoved the lot into a grubby old bin bag. Others arrive smelling beautifully of fabric conditioner, clothes neatly folded, all ready to be snapped up by another satisfied customer. Our customers come from all walks of life: quirky, old, young; many chatty; a real melange of the human race.

One old lady wants to unfold all the sheets and quilt cover sets to see what fabric they are made from; she likes cotton. Another wants dress ups for a 1920s party; that’s easy. A dropped waist dress in her size is found, along with a long string of plastic beads. We have fabrics in different textures and colours, knitting wool, bits and bobs and lace.

Who thought it was a good idea to buy all this glassware? I’m not sure what era it’s from, all these vases, platters, dishes, so much of the stuff. Volunteers in op shops across the country are probably scanning the services, trying to find a home for it all.

It’s busy today, that’s what we like. Regulars chatting by the till. How nice not to have to wear the dreaded face masks. What about what’s happening in Ukraine? How awful is that evil Putin?

We’ve just sold some glassware, there’s some good news!