"My Thrift Shop Score From Yesterday" by Richard F. Yates

I live in a small logging town in southern Washington State (in the U.S.,) but for some reason, weird anomalous things happen here, all the time, that can't be explained by modern science---like that time I found a Buzzcocks cassette tape at a garage sale just a few houses down from mine, back when I lived over on Florida Street. (How did that tape even GET to Longview??? And was it possibly left there by the Gods of Alternative Music JUST for me to find???)

In this spirit, I went with my wife yesterday to a second hand shop out Ocean Beach Highway, Unlimited Treasures, from which she had purchased a dresser a few days before that we needed to go pick up. While we were there, I spotted a few shelves full of CDs that were marked 50 cents a piece. I didn't expect much...

HOWEVER!!!! After scanning the titles for a few seconds (and seeing lots of junk,) what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a ROXY MUSIC hits collection! I have a handful of Roxy / Bryan Ferry tracks on compilation disks and a soundtrack or two, but this is my first official Roxy CD. Suddenly, this shelf full of 50 cent disks had my attention!

In short order, I found CDs by Throwing Muses, Fats Waller, Asia, and Joy Division! I also found the old (from 1990) Red Hot + Blue compilation, which has songs by Neneh Cherry, Thompson Twins, David Byrne, Jungle Brothers, Tom Waits, Annie Lennox, Sinead O'Connor, Debbie Harry + Iggy Pop (!!!), U2, Erasure, Aztec Camera, Fine Young Cannibals and more! I remember when this album came out---it was equal parts Cole Porter tribute and a benefit for A.I.D.S. research---and although I never bought it back when it was new, I'm not sure WHY I never picked it up, considering that hardcore artist lineup. (The track by Thompson Twins alone is worth the price of a new CD---deinitely my new favorite song...for the next few days, at least...)

So there you have it! Even a town with fewer than 40,000 people in it can harbor the occasional shocking pleasure! I guess the moral would be: JUST LOOK---YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU MIGHT FIND! (This is especially true is the price is only 50 cents a pop for whatever you're looking at!!!) MAYBE the Gods of Irony and Weird Pleasures PLANTED those CDs there just to test my patience and ability to focus and pay attention to detail... (???) If so, I was rewarded for my perseverance---and you could be, too, if you're willing to stop and look around every once in a while (and just BELIEVE!!!---or something...) Happy hunting!

---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool...)

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