Best gift ever

"You're going to blog about this, aren't you?" Teri said with an air of resignation as we walked back to the Jeep in the cold spitting rain. I could tell she was thinking of every person we know who might read these words and was feeling a tinge of shame and embarrassment before they had even been written.

"Are you kidding?! Of course I am." Mr. Sensitivity replied, caught up in a wave of enthusiasm.

On Saturday morning we set out together to do our Christmas shopping for each other. The week before, we had purchased our "real" Christmas present--the joint gift of a new television. At least I say it was our gift to each other; Teri says it was mostly for me. Since the new TV is already in use, we wanted to give each other a gift or two to unwrap on Christmas morning.

Before we went shopping we set up a couple of rules. Our Best Year Ever gift budget was tiny and firmly fixed. We each had only $50 in cash to spend, including stocking stuffers, so we knew we would have to be clever and resourceful to find a worthy present with that kind of limit. The other limitation was that the gifts had to be desirable and useful. This year we can't afford to spend money on anything we don't want or need, even at Christmas.

We started at the Bessemer Flea Market, but that was a literal wash-out. The steady December rain had driven the itinerant outdoor vendors away for the day, and the more permanent vendors in the indoor stalls had nothing either of us wanted.

We drove on to a couple of deep-discount box stores nearby. At Freds we bought some socks and underwear for me (a Christmas tradition in our home) and a couple of kitchen gadgets for Teri's stocking. The Big Lots store next door was going out of business and the picked-over merchandise looked as dreary as the weather outside. Still, we found a couple of pairs of nice garden gloves for Teri marked down to almost nothing.

Our big shopping expedition wasn't going well, and we were disheartened. We had picked up a few small items for each other, but nothing that could be considered a real present. Headed back in the direction of home on the main highway and out of ideas, we saw a a sign for a place claiming to be the "biggest thrift store in Alabama." On a whim, and with nowhere else to go, we pulled in.

Problem solved.

The sign didn't lie. This place was big, almost cavernous, and within the first few minutes, I found five shirts and a book I have been wanting to read for a while. Three of the shirts were the kind of button down sports shirts I like to wear in warmer months. One was Pierre Cardin. All three were in mint condition and two appeared never to have been worn. They all fit me perfectly and ranged in price from $1.89 to $2.49.

The other two shirts were button down short sleeved uniform shirts of an air conditioning repairman, well worn, but clean and in good condition. When I saw that Hank had been monogrammed into the breast of each shirt, I had to have them. They were all of 79 cents each. Either the repairman had grown or shrunk over the years or the company named all their repairmen Hank since there were Hank shirts in several sizes. I selected the two that fit me and am deliriously happy with my new yard shirts.

Teri spent an hour or so perusing the extensive selection of books for sale while I explored the rest of the store.

In the electronics section I was puzzled by the several dozen televisions on display. They were tube televisions on sale for $59 each. All were turned on and in perfect working order. All of them were the same brand (Magnavox) and the identical model (36-inches is my guess). I was disappointed with myself for how long it took me to solve this mystery. It eventually dawned on me that a local motel must have just switched to flat screens in their rooms and donated all of their old televisions to the thrift store.

I also found a desktop computer in perfect working condition that was nearly as powerful as the one that powers this blog, but at a tiny fraction of the price I paid for mine.

After a circuit of the knickknacks and sporting goods, I returned to find Teri still engrossed in the book section and a tall stack of books in our cart. She had found cookbooks, gardening books, craft books and others. She even found one to give to someone else as a gift, and she was enthused. "Why don't you check out the ladies clothes? They have lots of them, and you never know," I gently prodded.

Teri hesitated, but decided to take "a quick look". It wasn't long before she had found two beautiful wool sweaters and a very fashionable top that was just her style and size. All were in perfect condition and only a few dollars each.

We separated the pile of items in the cart and went through check-out separately, each paying for the other's Christmas gifts. Teri went first and giggled out loud when the announced total for five "new" shirts and two nice books came to twelve bucks and change. I paid double that amount for Teri's library and wardrobe, mostly because several of the books she chose for herself were the "expensive" $4 kind.

We laughed all the way home. "Those are the best presents I've ever bought for you," I said.

"No, not the best," corrected Teri a little too quickly. My wife is part crow with an unnatural attraction to shiny objects, and we both knew she was thinking of the diamond earrings and other glittering gifts of Christmases past.

"You're right," I said. "Not the best, just the most satisfying. At least for me," I added.

Teri, thrilled with her gifts but still adjusting to the idea of actually wearing a thrift store sweater, remained quiet for a time. Teri feels the lifestyle changes we've made during the BYE much more than I do, and I hope she knows how grateful I am to her for the sacrifices she has made that have allowed me this time.

I had only been inside thrift stores a few times in my life. My past visits had always been as a donor dropping off items, never as a customer. I found those thrift stores to be sad, dingy places cluttered with the unwanted detritus of other peoples' lives--they were filled with things I could never want or need.

This place was different from the thrift stores of my memory. It was bright, clean, orderly and stocked with nice things. Yes, there was more trash than treasure there, but for me that's true with any store I visit. It had been a long time since I had set foot in one of these places, but I didn't think it was just our current situation making me feel the difference this time.

Once we got home with our finds, I did a little research on thrift stores and was amazed at what I found.

First of all, my memory wasn't wrong. Lots of grubby thrift stores are still out there, but many more like the one we visited have sprung up in recent years.

It turns out Teri and I are part of a trend. The Orlando Sentinel published an article last month reporting that many people are doing at least some of Christmas shopping at thrift stores this year and that sales at such stores are up 35% over last year, largely due to the bad economy.

The green movement loves thrift stores because buying used clothes vs. new is environmentally friendly. Others write glowingly about the charitable work the proceeds from these stores produces. The one we visited on Saturday is devoted to helping people recover from addiction.

There are scads of blogs (check out the Thrift Store Whore) devoted to thrift store shopping, and people even post videos of themselves on YouTube showing off the bargains they have found. For one example, click here

There are lots of "tip" lists on the web offering contradictory advice on how to shop at thrift stores. The two common pieces of advice: don't buy your underwear at one (eww!) and wash every article of clothing when you get home.

We'll always remember this as the year of the thrift store Christmas, but I already know it will go down as one of my all-time favorites. That my wife accepted it with grace and good humor may be the best gift anyone has ever given me.