Wednesday 27 January 2010

The end of the line!

It's here... my last week! I have a mere two more days to work, and my days as the Charity Shop Fairy are over. Well, sort of. I'm going on a 0 hours contract as a safety net...


There's so many posts I haven't made and so much weirdness not documented - I'm sure I can keep the blog going with retrospectives for some time!

We're off out for a farewell dinner tomorrow evening- to my surprise, an insane number of people are coming. It could be quite traumatic! I'm even considering breaking my teetotal of 6 months. It seems like an occasion on which one ought to have a drink. Though it could equally spell disaster if, as is very likely, I become slightly intoxicated and behave inappropriately!

It feels a bit like stepping of the edge of the cliff (leaving the shop, that is, not having a drink!) - and I may in fact go slightly potty without all my lovely nutters around to keep me sane!

Monday 11 January 2010

Excuse me sir, but I couldn't help noticing your fingers are about to fall off...

I think one of my customers has gangrene. He's an old feller, probably pushing 80, with copious facial hair and a grizzled look about him. He also has an apparently morbid love of heavy jewellery. His hands are always covered in heavy silver rings, and an assortment of chains and medallions hang about his neck. I've also always rather admired his bizarre collection of clothing - sort of 70s Afghan boho meets Steptoe and Son.

But lately I have noticed the fingers on this right hand have become hideously (and I mean hideously) swollen and distorted, dark red and going black in places. Today there was black gunge visibly seeping from around the rings that are evidently causing this dreadful inflammation. And the smell... Dear god. I really want to say something about it, but he's not the chatty type and I don't want to cause offence - however, it's clearly extremely serious and requires urgent medical attention. No attempt seems to have been made to remove the offending jewellery (though at the very least it's so tight that at least it might be preventing the infection from spreading any further up his arm!), which makes me think he's probably not seen a doctor about it. I get the impression he's the type who will avoid going to the doctor's at any cost! It could be a very high cost, though.

Perhaps I ought to overcome my terribly British-ness and attempt to gently alert him to the potential seriousness of his predicament next time he comes in.

Tuesday 5 January 2010

My greatest triumph

I'm a little behind - sorry.

But this inspired me to get back on the horse today. My first coup of the new year and in fact my greatest to date.

Some weeks ago, before Christmas, my assistant manager picked an innocuous, slightly grubby doll out of a bag of donate. One of my volunteers exclaimed her horror at it when she discovered a cord at the back of its head that made the eyes change colour. At this I knew what it was - a Blythe doll. I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for one of these fabled things ever since, about 3 years ago just after I started, we'd had a book on the subject donated, featuring colour plates of these rare dolls dressed in designer gear. They made about 3000 of them back in the 70s, but hadn't been a great hit so they were sidelined and became items of interest only to doll collectors. Now they make a modern version but the originals still sell for a fair whack, even ones like this in need a bloody good haircut and a trip to Dior.

I sent it off to the ebay team along with a set of Portmerion crockery and more or less forgot about it. Today I had a call from my area manager, asking in slightly incredulous tones if I'd sent a doll in to the ebay team. He informed me that the doll sold - for £922! People are often asking me what the most expensive item I've ever sold was - well this one tops the lot. Before that it was a meagre £150 for a Chloe handbag.

I'd post a link to the listing, but that might give the game away...