Goodwill … I remember the shame attached to going there as a child. We only went a couple of times, and for a long time, I remembered the stigma. But that was a different time.
I also lived in a trailer, and I remember the time one of my friends saw me at K-Mart. I was embarrassed until I much later realized that he was at K-Mart too. I didn’t talk about where I lived and I didn’t have the nicest clothes, though my parents took me to Penneys or Sears once a year for school clothes. And even that, I was not satisfied with. I figured the cool kids didn’t shop at Sears, but the truth is, the shopping choices were pretty limited back then, and they probably did shop at Sears. They just got a lot more clothes than I did.

But when I got older (and got my own money) I grew to appreciate Goodwill. It takes a certain mindset, a certain mood and patience to go.
I have 50/50 luck with getting clothes at Goodwill or other thrift stores, because I am tall and plus sized. I have to have patience to sort through the ugliest stuff on earth to find one really cool shirt or sweater. But it’s worth it, Matt.
Some of my favorite clothes in various points in my life have come from thrift shops. My favorite is a Space Camp shirt that Dawn found while we were shopping in Lansing, perhaps. It has holes in the armpits now and I absolutely refuse to get rid of it or to even stop wearing it.
I wish I had the patience right now to start looking for the Space Camp replacement shirt, but I don’t.

I think perhaps, Matt, that what you have against Goodwill is the same reaction I had; fleeing from a class mindset.

Your J. sounds like a great kid so far! Good head on his shoulders, frugality.

I am over that, but I still don’t care much for Goodwill or thrift stores. I am not a patient person. I don’t think I have ever bought something at one of these places that I felt was a good deal, and I don’t particularly like spending hours sorting through racks of ugly, mostly used clothing. The sheer amount of clothing hanging all mixed and miscellaneous is pretty intimidating. I’m used to neat, orderly racks of similar clothing organized according to size and kind.

You’ve never been very open to thrift store though for class reasons, I think: you told me years ago that thrift store were just for the poor. Not true.

I’m starting to feel a certain age-based conservatism creep up on me, too. Music, clothes, manners of speech. I’m trying to remain open to how the younger people do things, like you, if possible. Unlike you, I will work around the younger set for another 30 years however. I’m not sure if I can keep it being so open-minded.