My grandmother, who is in her mid-80s, has for the last 20 years volunteered with the Sue Ryder hospice near her home. Once a month the hospice holds a sale of goods donated by the public in its expansive grounds. People queue for nearly an hour before the doors open to get in. It’s so popular because you can buy pretty much anything at this sale (within reason), for ridiculously reasonable prices.
My grandmother works on curtains. Once a week she and three other ladies, all retired, work together to inspect and measure any curtains that have been donated that week. On sale day they arrange their space and sell curtains non-stop all morning, and on a good day they can make up to £2,000.
I’ve helped out at the sale a few times, proudly donning my apron and borrowed name tag. Although I am the least useful of the curtain sales people (don’t ask me about drop or width of curtain versus width of window) I really enjoy it. Most people are polite and patient and understand that the majority of people working there are a) elderly and b) volunteers. However, this is not always the case. I don’t know how common my experiences are, but I have come across the most rude attempts at haggling while working at the sale.
One of the things the curtain ladies sell is net curtains. Some are a pound, some are 50p. Last time I worked at the sale I watched a woman take three curtains from the pound box. She came over to pay. “Three pounds please”, I said. “No,” she looked me straight in the face, “these were 50p.” I am a little ashamed to say that after some gentle insistence that they were in fact a pound, I gave in and let her have them for half price. I didn’t think it was worth an argument.
Perhaps I am being harsh, and this lady genuinely could not afford to pay the extra £1.50, but at the time the incident really upset me. The sale raises funds that maintain the hospice that cares for people in the final stages of their life. A lot of the volunteers have themselves had a loved one cared for by the hospice, my granny and me included. So why haggle?
As the lady triumphantly walked away, discount curtains in hand, I couldn’t help fuming to myself “but it’s for charity!” Perhaps I am too sentimental.