I was wrong. These days, I'm a careful sniffer of goods* and I do not buy anything that smells mildewy (see above), but this yard sale thing is ON.
What This Does Not Mean: I promise that I will not be driving that car creeping along in front of you and lurching suddenly over when I see a yard sale sign and then darting back IN ahead of you. I promise.
What This Means: I salute your old stuff, and there's a chance I'll buy your old stuff--well, so long as it's not in a pawn shop after it has been stolen from your house.
My Caveat: Your old stuff must be like the stuff I bought at last weekend's yard sale. And, what is that stuff? Why I thought you would never ask. Here it is! (Perhaps best characterized as old, odd, and random--surely you have some stuff that meets those stiff criteria? If so, have a yard sale and I'm there.)
THE AERODYNAMIC WOODEN BEE (its eye is GOOGLY!)
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"Let us suppose you are examining a small man. From the rules in Chapter III you will know that most small men are very quick in both their thinking and their actions. And from your other observations you may feel sure that he is not an exception to that rule. So you tell him that he is impulsive, impetuous, and excitable. Does he start slightly or seem a little surprised? If he does, you have the green light. You can go ahead from there, elaborating and adding several closely related characteristics...Act as if he were an open book to you in which absolutely nothing is concealed."
Sparkle sez: If I'm shopping in the supermarket, see a small man, sidle up and examine him, and fill him in about himself, I imagine there is a high probability that he will "start slightly or seem a little surprised." In fact, I imagine this will be true of the "Jolly Fat Man" (Chapter II), as well as the "Shifty-Eyed Fellow" (Chapter IV). Don'tcha think?
*I do not want to read what this book has to say about the character of people who go around sniffing goods.