Commentary by Danielle Pelkey

The North Jefferson News



I did something this weekend that doesn’t even sound like fun to me — I had a yard sale.

I know that many of our readers enjoy yard sales, but having a yard sale is something that has never appealed to me.

I enjoy going to yard sales, if I’m good and awake and I have a few extra pennies in my pocket. But the thought of having my own yard sale just sounds horrible. That’s a ton of work for just a little pay. You have to actually go through all of the “junk” that you have.

I guess the saying is true that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, but I don’t want to find your treasure in my old closet.

I ventured into this with my mom and sister at my side. They were both very excited about this, and I was a little less than excited to say the least.

My dad decided to clean out some of his stuff from his shop to bring him a little money, too. Upon looking at the stuff piled in the back of his truck, I called him “Sanford and Son” and laughed as I walked away. I tried to convince my mom not to even let him put that pile of junk out in our yard sale, but he is the daddy and he won. Boy, was I shocked when that pile of junk sold so quickly. It was rusted old fishing lures, old glass pictures and a tin tool box that looked like it was found in a trash pile.

Needless to say, at the end of the day, daddy brought home more money than I did.

I didn’t think that I had anything to offer at this yard sale because I am on the verge of giving birth to another little girl, so baby stuff couldn’t be sold yet and I felt like my house was trash free. I had forgotten about one closet, the trash closet. It holds books and candles and things like that — the things you just want to forget about because one day you may actually need them.

My husband pointed this closet out to me, and for the first time, I got excited about this yard sale. I thought about what I could ask for matching lamps and Interior Design candleholders and place mats with the price tags still attached. I was ready to get my sale on.

We took all of our merchandise to the house on Friday night and set up as much as we could. Our sale was starting at 7 a.m., so we didn’t want to do anything but get there on Saturday morning.

After nine hours of sitting outside at our yard sale, and about two to three hours of setting up and getting ready, I figure that I made about $2 per hour for my labor.

All in all, it paid off for everyone else at the sale, except me. I made the least amount of money, and had the most swollen ankles of the whole group.

I guess I have a lot to learn about yard saling. Although I enter yard sale ads all week long in the paper, this doesn’t help to sale anything when push comes to shove.

I guess I will take notes from my “Sanford and Son” dad and my sister next time I decide to get involved in a yard sale.