30 Jan February at Experienced Goods
By Jennie Reichman
Live from Brattleboro, It’s Experienced Goods!
Driving to the grocery store on a recent Sunday, I was listening to the New Yorker Radio Hour. The interviewer was talking to magazine editor Susan Morrison about her biography of Lorne Michaels, creator of the iconic late night comedy show Saturday Night Live. At one point she quoted Michaels as saying to the cast, “We don’t go on because we’re ready, we go on because it’s 11:30.” In other words, buckle up, folks, if you don’t know your lines, too bad, because this show is live and the cameras are rolling.
Other than the absence of cameras, that’s pretty much the scenario every morning at Experienced Goods. Karen, Joan and Mark have been there since 8 a.m., putting out housewares, cleaning up messes and straightening displays from the previous day’s chaos. I show up around 9:15, count the money into the cash registers and put out a couple of racks of clothing. Emma has usually been there since 9, fluffing up the jewelry cases and taking photos of interesting items to put on Instagram. Albert has vacuumed the floor, moved the free shelf outside and positioned the rolling bins for taking in donations. We are setting the scene, sure of our lines and stage directions, the background music is anything from Taylor Swift to Reggae to Alt Country, and at 10:00: Live from Brattleboro, it’s another day at Experienced Goods! The doors open and the fans rush in, and we prepare ourselves for 7 hours of improv comedy, nail-biting drama and social commentary. Oh, and lots of exciting shopping and treasure hunting.
No matter how much one day seems like every other at the shop, a well-worn, predictable routine, anything can happen, and there is always something that sets every day apart. Sometimes there’s slapstick comedy, especially when Brattleboro’s local clown troupe pops in to hunt for costumes. There’s often drama: A customer loses her wallet, we search everywhere to no avail, and then she finds it lying next to her car where she dropped it on her way into the store. (Whew!) There have been tears, heartfelt confessions, even love affairs begun and ended. I’ve often fantasized about writing Experienced Goods: The Musical! Or a sitcom called As Is, with a cast of endearing misfits running a thrift store, led by a plucky and resourceful manager, getting in and out of confounding situations and impossible scrapes and laughing about it all at the end of the day. At least the costuming and sets would be easy!
But reality is often stranger than fiction, and like Karen says, you just can’t make it up. The reality of the January blahs has given way to the hopeful glimmer of February as the days are getting perceptibly longer and Valentine’s Day is on the horizon. We are putting out more colorful clothing as visions of spring dance through our heads, even though we know we will have to endure a few more months of snow and cold (Don’t worry, we still have lots of warm coats and wooly sweaters on the racks.) If you are looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for someone special, we have been filling the jewelry cases with some lovely pieces in all price ranges, and we have a whole rack of pretty, lacy pink and red clothing.
But perhaps your Valentine is more the pragmatic type. The housewares department is chock-a-block with interesting knick-knacks and elegant dish- and glassware, and the high-end cases are brimming with one-of-a-kind gifts, many of which are collectible. And books! We have so many great books for the readers in your life. Valentine’s Day is about love of all kinds, not just the romantic sort, so consider a thoughtful gift or card to express that love to the significant people in your life. And while you’re at it, send some love out into the world and all the beings in it; I think we could use as much of that as we can create.