By scavenging, memories can be collected
By scavenging, memories can be collected
It was a good deal when Grandpa found odds and ends at auction sales; now, it’s my turn
BryAnn Becker • Argus Leader • January 23, 2010
Saturdays in the summer meant one thing for my grandpa Ray - auction sales. Even the sweltering heat of a North Dakota August couldn’t keep him away.
He would be there, dressed in washed-out blue jeans, a button-down shirt, boots and, most likely, a hat with a local farm implement logo.
Maybe he just knew by instinct or word of mouth, but somehow my grandpa always found the right auction sale.
Raymond Becker had a knack for finding exactly what he needed. The skill came in handy. He farmed and ranched for more than 50 years in rural Napoleon, 50 miles southeast of Bismarck, N.D.
More frequently, he found what he thought was essential - tools, antiques, glass ringed-necked pheasants. The pheasant collection still covers the nooks and crannies in my grandparents’ house.
Grandpa loved a good deal. He was the ultimate scavenger.
How exactly does one become a scavenger? I’m talking about people who clip coupons, know where to find the good deals, rummage at sales and pick through piles at thrift stores.
“Scavenging is a human instinct or a gene of sorts,” said Anneli Rufus of Berkeley, Calif., co-author of “The Scavengers’ Manifesto.”
Rufus says that the hunter and gatherer instinct is alive within everyone. A capitalist society has changed our inherent nature over time.
The green movement and the economy have brought scavenging back. More people are recycling, shopping at thrift stores and using Web-based groups such as Freecycle and Sharing is Giving.
Some people clearly have the scavenging gene.
My dad will exclaim virtuously just how much he saved after buying a tractor. (My mom’s response: “Another one?”) My brother, Brandt, like my grandpa, practically can smell a deal.
I’m still discovering my scavenging gene.
I don’t think I inherited the ease of knowing where to go. Scavenging seems to take more effort. For lack of time, patience and motivation, I don’t scavenge.
But as scavenging becomes more in vogue, I can see the rewards. Of course reusing helps the environment.
On a personal level, items from thrift stores and flea markets have more sentimental value: the copy of Jane Eyre I found at the Guildhall Market in Bath, England, a butterfly pin from a thrift store, a black-and-white cat figurine my grandpa bought at an auction sale.
I haven’t been to a thrift store, garage sale or auction sale in a long time. But now I’m nostalgic. I’m ready to start scavenging again. In some small way, I think that in going to auction or garage sales, I’m remembering my grandpa. Maybe I even can start a collection of my own. I’m thinking tea sets.
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