At Grift & Sift, Chapter 4

 

Red, blue, green, yellow. Pay heed. Depending on the tag’s color, the item might be 50% off. On Thursdays the discount skyrockets to 70%.

“As is,” the tags warn.

Sometimes the words are circled. Then you know. There’s a rip. A stain. A chip, or a crack. But sometimes the back-room sorters and pricers fail to catch the boo-boos. You don’t look hard enough, yourself—don’t hold the shirt up to the light—and when you get home there’s a hole that’s maybe not really patchable. And no returning.

Which brings me to Christopher and Maria’s song: Rusty floorboards, worn-out tires / We could reach the moon with all these miles / Broken tail light, no radio / But it runs and it’s for sale / As is . . .

Bald tires, la-de-de-da, yet they go around. Dilapidated house, la-de-de-da, but oh the breeze. Wizened old body, la-de-de-da, but still two feet to stand on. As is, we get by.

Grift & Sift’s junkers have some wear left—mostly. Also, the $ you wasted on that sad shirt don’t go down the drain. The store’s profits go to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), funding relief projects around the world. Even robbers like me can be chipping in. That’s the saving grace. At least, it’s what I like to think.

P.S. The dish towel I found last week has a few streaks on the back you can hardly see. I’ll give it to some Baers I know.

P.P.S. This was about the best I could do, trying to capture, at a recent concert. Maria doesn’t have horns.

(Lyrics are from the Edges album. For more about Clymer & Kurtz’s release concerts, go here.)