When In Doubt Trust in the Salvation Army (a journal story)

On a nice Saturday where the sun is high and the birds are singing….that you gotta get out.  For me it was definitely a Saturday city adventure. So I put on my skull shirt, ripped jeans, and gladiator sandals, and hit the pavement for a walk towards the train station. Mission: find the best bargain. Destination: Union Square.

I passed the turnstile and got on the train with my purse in tow. From the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one on a mission with a nice weather as it was.  Good thing there weren’t the usual weekend delays as there is here in NYC. But anyhow, I got out and walked around a commotion going on in Union Square (besides the hardcore chess players). One of the best things of Union Square is that there is always some event happening. Last summer there was a group of people jumping on some bouncing footwear. I kid you not. With these commotions usually a crowd starts and there are pictures being taken with hordes of people walking and hang-a-langing.  Which is great because that is where the cool tattoos come out and get seen ;D. Anyways, back to the mission.

the magic box undergoing a makeover

So I walked a bit past Union Square’s Best Buy, and hit the Salvation Army. I was always curious to go inside because many people have reported finding great deals and treasures that once were a man’s trash. So, I walked in and instantly found a small book section. Found some interesting titles but I wasn’t in the buying book mode until I took a 90 degree turn…I found it. It was this awesome cute box with a latch and everything. It had what looked like dried paint all over the inside and some parts of the outside. I thought because it was vintage it would be expensive so I walked away from it. Not a good move (trust me, you find something that shines like a treasure, you inspect it, and ask for the price). I decided to look in the clothes part of the store since that was mainly what this Salvation Army was and found a kilt!  A KILT! The ULTIMATE punk vintage item you can find. And I didn’t buy it.

But the good news is that after looking through all the clothes, I decided to go back to the box. A woman that seemed was in her forties was already standing around it. I quickly grabbed the box why I still could and went back to looking at the bags being sold.  I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew it was going to be grabbed at some point the minute I walked away. Overall, the mission was complete and done with. But I still continued to look around for other great finds. And I found a nifty bag. It must have been my lucky day because I found a dollar and change inside the pocket of the bag. There was no price tag on it so I didn’t know if I should take it. I went up to the counter and asked for the price. Turns out the box and the bag cost the same value of $2.99. I paid for both and found my way happily to the train station (don’t worry I didn’t skip).

When riding a train it is always good to have a buddy to talk to. To my surprise when I got off 42^nd to take my train home, I found my awesome friend, Ralgy Cepeda of Nova. The whole ride we spent talking and laughing in intervals. We exchanged our goodbyes and treaded home. A Saturday mission complete and a potential hangout in the future. Yep, definitely bargains never to be missed. Til next time.