6.06.2009

A lesson in American Economics

Since we've gotten past so many of the big American cultural surprises, I forget that there are still some American institutions that are rather foreign to the kids. Like garage sales. I suspect there weren't a whole lot of people in downtown Addis Ababa putting big signs in front of their houses saying, "I've got so much stuff, I'm just going to put a pile of it in my driveway and ask for such a meager pittance that you won't even steal it."

The kids love and are fascinated by garage sales. I think they get that from their Grandmother.

In our neighborhood, some kind soul about 2 blocks away puts up a sign in late April that says, "Neighborhood garage sale coming June 5,6, and 7th!" Which gives the rest of us plenty of time to schmooze off their advertizing efforts. So today, we are having our first family yard sale.

It's 10:30 and thus far we have sold:

-one bag of lightbulbs
-an English/German dictionary
-a remote control car from Habtamu to Yordanos
-a pair of rugs from Chris to Yordanos

Oh, and Yordi ran across the street to another garage sale and bought a "Cutie on Duty" t-shirt. So far we've netted a dollar, but at this rate we'll be in the hole by the end of the day.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Save all your money from your garage sale so you can spend it at ours in a few weeks.

:o)
Julie