Before I get into a juicy pawn shop (or thrift store, when I feel like cheating) breakdown, let me just say how much I love Los Angeles. People watching is never boring in the Hollywood side of town, and there are more odd shops, pawn shops, and even Russian Souvenir (soon to be reviewed!) shops than I could ever hope to explore. California may be the Golden State, but Los Angeles is certainly the Eclectic City.
Now then, your favorite pawn shop investigator and mall speed dater sure got her hands dirty (literally) today. Our first stop of this series is Out of the Closet, a thrift store chain benefiting AIDS treatment and care. You know, that big thrift store on Fairfax north of The Grove. I bet you have seen it while driving past hundreds of times…but have you ever gone inside?
Honestly, the best feature was the parking located in the back. Beyond the advantage of convenient parking, this thrift shop did not have many appealing assets. The furniture was few in number (and altogether undesirable), and the books revealed little redemption. Sketchy looking clothing for both men and women seemed to be the focal point of the thrift store, hoarding most of the floor on the scary racks of the unknown. Actually, the scary part was the dressing rooms, or should I say, graciously provided cloth closets-i.e. a small room in the middle of the store made from a sheet that did not hang all the way to the ground. It might have also had a revealing crack or two, but I was too frightened to look. Nudity was not a part of the deal when I devised this series.
The electronics were present in the masses, though not surprisingly; where else would you sell/get rid of them? The resale value of a used electronic rivals that of a used tissue, which would actually be quite useful because, as I mentioned before, the place was not too clean. My hands became quite black after searching through the most promising loot of the building-the vinyl.
In fact after what seemed like forever, I finally claimed my conquest, a small little gem among the piles of rubbish, and for the grand price of …one dollar. Hey, I never said the prices were bad.
I even managed to sneak in a small “speed dating” snippet, though not really, when one of the workers at the thrift shop decided to be not-so-smooth about hitting on me. As I was sifting through the small collection of vinyl and he was returning men’s clothes to their hangers, the conversation went something like this…
Guy: Hey, excuse me. Does this look like women’s or men’s? (holds up a women’s sweater)
Me: Uh, women’s. (weird, quizzical look)
Guy: Oh, thanks. Hey, you must be a DJ too.
Me: Nope. Just looking.
Guy: Oh. (pauses…for a long time) Hey do you know what sea monkeys are?
Me: No. (even larger weird, quizzical look)
Guy: Oh, well you probably think I am strange (yes I do), but I am not. Really, let me show you what I am talking about so you don’t think I am crazy. (but I already do, as he runs off to some secret part of the store and then returns with some “insta-grow sea monkey aquarium set”) See what I mean? Crazy huh?
Me: That’s ridiculous.
So what did I learn from today’s little outing?
#1) Bring hand wipes/sanitizer to next pawn shop (and maybe mall speed dating outings as well).
#2) I should probably consider being slightly nicer if I want this whole mall speed dating thing to be a success (and by success I do not mean land a boyfriend. No. NO. NO. NO! NO!)
What should you learn from my experience? If you plan on visiting Out of the Closet, save your money or spend it at Family Books and/or Canter’s instead.
But hey, at least the shop had a cute pet!
