Does Donald Trump Shop at Goodwill?

Except for shoes and underwear, I haven’t bought new clothes in a long time, and why would I? My budget is as tight as a noose and, as I’ve discovered, the stuff at Goodwill and the local Disabled Veteran’s shop is perfectly fine. Who cares if it’s used? After a couple of rounds in the Maytag, my new clothes look about the same as anything I can find on those endless color-coded racks where everything has that distinct Goodwill laundry detergent smell, a telltale scent I’m sniffing more and more these days, on other people.

Including rich people.

Sure, I suppose they have the right to save money. Lord knows, they know how to spend it. But here’s the thing: Until rich people started shopping at Goodwill, most of the other shoppers were old guys looking for power tools, and big, loud families in search of cheap clothes.

Half of my house is furnished by a toney shop in an upscale college town. That would include the hammered, hand-burnished copper top dining room table, the loveseat called Baby Grand for its piano-like shape, the black leather coach and wrought iron coffee table. Five thousand dollars worth of furniture, all of it beautiful. Then I found myself in a new job making $40k less.

So now my furniture and just about everything else comes from Goodwill or Sal’s (of Army fame), junk shops, and garage sales and, frankly, I like that stuff even better, and not only because it’s cheap. It’s the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline rush of finding a perfect mid-century modern (MCM) sectional couch or an entire set of American Limoge Triumph china with the 50s pattern known as Bermuda.

Until recently it was rare to walk into Goodwill and find myself competing with some version of me, or a Brooklynite hipster trolling for an MCM fiberglass lampshade. There were no rich bunko-playing suburban sorority types, no doctor’s wives or snowbirds. Just poor people and the suddenly-broke.
As you can see by my picture, snapped just yesterday in front of one of my favorite thrift stores, those days are long gone. And I am not happy about it.


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