With the feeling that our yard sale was not going to put us high on any Forbes fortune list, we decide to include a couple of items that had potential to pay dividends in laughter. One such item was an old tube sock filled full of rice. In the morning hours of the sale, a man came across the sock and was quite taken by it. He looked around and asked if it could be warmed in the microwave. After an answer in the affirmative, he asked the price. When he learned it could be his for just 50 cents, his eyes widened and he stooped over, picked up the sock, and put it around his neck. With the sock in place like some oversized, tube-shaped collar, the man rolled his head around from side-to- side and shrugged his shoulders a couple of times, first together, then each one separately. It was clear he was becoming familiar with the object of his desire. The rolling and shrugging must have caused the rice to settle perfectly in all the right locations; once in place the man never removed the sock from his neck. He browsed the sale a little longer, paid us the bargain price of 50 cents for the rice sock and headed back to his vehicle with wife by his side. We could still see the sock in place as the man made his way down the street and out of sight around the corner. We waved them goodbye and also bid welcome to a memory made possible by a yard sale poor on money but rich on good times.
6 years ago