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Funny story. Okay, maybe not so funny as ironic. Twisted and gut-wrenching also comes to mind, but I wouldn't be inclined to describe it as such. So let's stick funny - not ha ha - but STRANGE.
We had this shirt (yes, it sold already so quit emailing, you ambulance chasers!) for five years. It languished in our store begging to be bought and was browsed by over 3,000 people during its substantial shelf life. I kinda liked the thing, so I wasn't in a big hurry to sell it and in light of the traffic it was garnering, I didn't really entertain the offers that periodically appeared in my in-box. I generally maintained a congenial "thanks but no thanks" disposition, because again, I was in no hurry to sell it.
Let me pause here to add a brief editorial. Yes, this whole blog is basically an editorial so perhaps that is a bad choice of words. But in any event, get off my case and allow me to continue. I never imagined Michael Jackson would join the ranks of River Phoenix, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis & a host of others whose deaths have become pop phenomenons with the same sort of mysterious connotations and general mystique that surrounds say, the JFK Assassination. Not the conspiracy aspect of it, mind you, but the total strangeness of the whole thing. Put plainly, Michael Jackson wasn't on my list of famous people that might die soon. If asked on June 24th (or prior to noon on June 25th) I would have said he would be like James Brown or BB King (I know the King is not dead) - music legends that never really retired. But such is fate. Now, on with the story.
This shirt sold approximately 10 minutes after Michael Jackson's death was confirmed by various news sources. It seems funny (strange) that Jackson's passing provided added value to this product but in the general course of things, it is completely understandable. I'm sure Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcet (who coincidentally passed on the same day as Michael Jackson - which might add to currently formulating conspiracy theories - stay tuned) merchandise has also seen a similar surge in demand. Makes you wish you saved at least one of those Publisher Clearing House envelopes, doesn't it?
I'm kind of sad because I am going to miss the shirt (and Michael Jackson) but I take comfort in the fact that the shirt has gone to a good home - the buyer's email address made it quite clear that they are a bigger Michael Jackson fan than I could ever be.
www.Thriftstore-Cowboy.com
Well here it is, the shirt du jour:
This shirt is a cross between a Cap'n Crunch Cereal Box and the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - all with a spicy taste of some fantastic country acts in the prime of 1984. This post would go on forever If I began to name names - but I would rather you picture the Woodstock of Country Music: a hard rainin', mudslingin', truck ridin', beer drinkin' good time -- back when Kenny Rogers had more pepper than salt and wasn't pushing chicken like the Colonel.
www.Thriftstore-Cowboy.com
Some years ago, I frequented a shop in Coconut Grove, Florida aptly named "Yucky's." The establishment's business card featured an array of swirling colors in the background, behind one of John Tenniel's original "Alice in Wonderland" illustrations with color added for effect. In addition to an assortment of other interesting merchandise that might complicate the legal ramifications of this post, a single t-shirt rack stood in the corner of the shop, nearest to the door.
The shirt selection rotated on a semi-frequent basis (okay, more infrequently than frequent) and one day, the offering of the chrome rack happened to include this shirt. Well, not THIS shirt in particular, but one like it. Identical, let's say. It should be mentioned here, or perhaps should have been previously, for the overall effect and emotional impact of this story, I (like many people) am a HUGE Led Zeppelin fan. And lets face it, this shirt has it all. Yeah, these days there is a flood of modern designs for classic rock bands printed on all sorts of aparrell. But this story takes place in days during which it was impossible to find a shirt for The Who in a black and white Rockabilia catalog. Consider a snap shot (in your head) of a near forgotten time - a time when certain dial-up online service providers were selling "repeat dial" programs instead of addressing connection issues - when half the items on eBay sold themselves with a picture less paragraph or two - when you had to go to the mall to buy a shirt (or wait for the next catalog to come your way AND get it before the dude down the street took yours). Or even, in some cases, your favorite tobacco shop.
While I should have bought this shirt when I first saw it, I must admit that I did not. I had limited funds for the bus, Metro Rail, dinner and whatever else might have come my way that weekend. Budgeting and planning were not my strong suits at the time. And besides, this was the t-shirt rack of "infrequent rotation" that we are talking about here!!!!
And so I waited.
And I waited some more. I actually made a point of checking in on my shirt on a regular basis, whenever I happened to be in the vicinity, which was about once a week. Predictably, each time I went, the shirt remained, untouched, on its hanger, and just like me - waiting.
I allowed this foolishness to continue as such for several months - until one particular week. I had enough funds for public transportation, a meal in town and no particular plans for the rest of the week. In short, I was ready and able to buy the shirt. So I made my way through the city, as I had done many times on a Sunday, and after a long walk, I arrived at my destination, cash in hand, ready to consume - to purchase to take home and wear this killer Led Zeppelin shirt.
Though the rack was in the very same place it had always been - the shirt was gone. Yes, gone. The day upon which everything had aligned in my favor, one factor, the most important, the presence of the item, had gone askew. I remained calm. I may have even done some breathing exercises. Counted to ten, that sort of thing. I went through the rack, several times. Everything was there, except the Zeppelin shirt. So I did what any free thinking American would do: I asked the sales person. Describing the shirt perfectly, I asked where it might be. Had some mistake been made? Perhaps it had been misplaced by some dilatory stock boy, in a hurry to eat his lunch. But it was none of these things.
The shirt had in fact been purchased by "some dude" only an hour before. I don't know if it was exactly an hour, it could have been more or less. I had only the clerk's words to that effect. Needless to say, my weekend was ruined. A personal tragedy. A swift kick in the pants. In short, horrific.
But the story does not end thus.
Cut to a thrift shop, years later. The day is mundane, the exact time, unknown. Perhaps it was even raining outside. Perhaps not. In the land of second hand t-shirts (my favorite place to be) my fingers instinctively move each hanger down the rack, allowing enough space for the next item to be seen. And suddenly, like a lost love, a friend separated by so much time and distance: my Led Zeppelin I tie dye shirt. Reunited, it didn't leave my hand until it was paid for.
Rest assured, the shirt pictured here is not MY Led Zeppelin I tie dye, which as of 5 minutes ago is still sitting in the second drawer of an art deco high boy dresser. This is another such shirt, stumbled across in a similar manner, offered up for some dude like me, so that they can squelch a nagging regret, or just get on their way to owning a kick ass shirt.
www.Thrifstore-Cowboy.com
