It may be junk to you, but it could be a Christmas gift or next week's wardrobe for self-confessed junkin' queen.
By
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Inside my Shoes
Published on October 27, 2015 9:53AM
During my teenage years, I was mortified if my mom wanted me to go into a thrift shop.
She didn’t find the logic that if I was in the store and someone saw me in the store, then they were in the thrift store, too. Well, as everyone knows adolescence isn’t logical.
Today, we laugh about this because I’ve turned into a junkin’ queen. I love finding good deals — in fact, other than my unmentionables, everything I’m wearing while penning this column was purchased at thrift stores, yard sales or other similar excursions.
They include some funky Chuck Taylors, Old Navy cargo shorts and a Nike T-shirt emblazoned with Hermiston Cross Country. Oh, and my Burton snowboard jacket is hanging on the hook. The grand total of this outfit, jacket included, cost me less than what the sneakers go for retail. Score!!
A twist on junkin’ is what I call Lester Pattoning — the act of obtaining unclaimed, discarded or mislaid items.
I was introduced to this through my husband, John. He gained knowledge and techniques from Les Patton, a man whose family befriended my husband when he was in his late teens. Les, John said, was the king of stopping in the middle of the road to pick up items that had parted ways with their owners.
Over the years, John and I have benefited from Lester Pattoning in the form of several pairs of medical scissors, a dog leash, a thermal hoodie, a rock hammer, a tire pressure gauge, a leveler, softballs, Frisbees, sunglasses, Reebok slides (even in my husband’s size), snow gloves, goggles, baseball hats, a jacket, T-shirts, stocking caps, sweatshirts, two cases of wine coolers (with only three broken bottles), flashlights, a case of English mark darts, a KA-BAR knife and sheath, all kinds of tools, a roll of bubble wrap, a coupon for a free ice cream cake at Dairy Queen, paper money (from $50 to $1 bills) and more loose change than we can count (best find, a 1919 dime).
My parents also have been the recipients of Lester Pattoning — even before it had that name.
Tight on money, my parents still wanted a real tree for Christmas. During the family outing headed to buy a tree, a truck hauling a large utility trailer overloaded with Christmas trees was in front of us. Then it happened, a slight gust of wind lifted a tree up and gently placed it on the fog line.
“Pull over, pull over honey,” my mom exclaimed. “God delivered us a Christmas tree.”
And, an item I obtained via Lester Pattoning found its way under the Christmas tree with my mom’s name on it. During a pit stop for our dogs on a road trip to Idaho, I found a cool rock and beaded necklace.
There is was, laying amongst random items (10 pairs of underwear, a bra, some shirts, a box of rice, a box of crackers, ChapStick, three books of matches from the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort and a travel cup that said, “I Choose the Road Less Traveled ... Now Where the Heck Am I?”) scattered near a department of transportation rock pile.
Dang,
I should have snagged that travel cup, my mom’s birthday is coming up.
Tammy Malgesini is the community editor. Her column, Inside my Shoes, includes general musings about life. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.
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