I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...
... I'm in Indiana with the family for a getaway weekend (the Pinochle game is going on in the background as I type -- being barely 40, I'm not quite old enough to play and will sit it out until the Michigan Rummy starts later ...) and I'm reminded of the last time when they were visiting Chicago and we all went to the Swap-O-Rama for the afternoon.
It may be that I was spoiled by growing up so close to the Key Drive In back home in Lebanon (which existed as a classic part of my smaller town Americana life until the Walton family decided the space would be perfect for one of its marts back in 1995) and that it was common practice to go up to the flea market on early Sunday mornings when the good townsfolk were in church so that you could get the best deals ... or maybe it's just that I have certain standards since one of my first paying jobs ever was working Owen's auction rooms at Green Dragon and Roots (especially around the holidays, when I recall making out like a bandit) -- but I have to tell you that there are certain things that I do not like to be "in the mix" when it comes to my flea market shopping experience.
To whit:
I do not want to buy a bottle of pop/soda/Coke at the corner stand and notice that it expires in two days.
I do not want to round the corner and be confronted with an eye doctor that has set up shop in one of the dirty stands -- and the hand written signs saying that they've been there for years and that they take most insurances do not make me feel any more ready to sit down in front of everyone for my LASIK treatment.
I do not want to walk past a vendor and have him give me the nod and the cryptic and creepy query of "hey -- do you like movies?" -- which I'm pretty sure was just a lead-in for some kind of hemp-influenced deal that he was trying to initiate if I was savvy enough to recognize the blunt overture.
I do not want to see eviction sign after eviction sign plastered up on the booths to make me think that everyone involved in my experience was just a degree or two removed from shyster status.
I do not want to peruse the wares -- and suspect that the vast majority of the items were things that had been stolen such that we were participating in some grand fencing scheme (and I did look extra hard at the few computer hardware booths to see if I could find my laptop that's been missing since it was lifted from my apartment last year).
I do not want to peruse the wares -- and feel like the family behind the counter was selling all of the belongings of the kid that they used to have (whether said child died, or was taken away by the government, or ran away for a chance at a better lifestyle).
All this being said -- I know that it's caveat emptor" when it comes to this lifestyle, and I should have considered myself "on notice" that things might be less than ideal when we discovered this place was right across from the Burr Oak Cemetery (known nationally for its scandal where they sold the same burial plots over and over again and just stacked the bodies in the grave en masse -- the "lucky" cadavers that made it out of the workers' tool shed, that is) ... but you might have guessed that I don't expect to be heading back any time soon.
[One silver lining -- I am always open to learning about different ethnic cultures. And, from this experience, I am intrigued to know why "shea butter" looks so nasty and why, if every other vendor was selling it, more people just don't make it at home (I mean I would have thought that an item with the word "butter" in its name would have looked more appealing) and why tamale pans are so gi-normous (I stood next to one that I think I could have comfortably slept in when I was a young-un'!) ...]
Is it too much to ask? I just want to go up and down the aisles and locate old chess or nativity sets at inexpensive prices OR find more classic Hardy Boys books to add to my collection (I'm hoping that if I get the whole set, I'll magically turn the years back and recapture the good parts of my youth) OR pretend I'm shopping when I'm really just there to eat (which was my classic go-to activity at Green Dragon and Roots, thanks to Raub's Subs and Zerbes Chips and the Amish girls and their homemade vanilla ice cream with peanut butter chunks in it -- ooh, and speaking of Amish, fingers crossed that our family excursion to Shipshewana in Indiana Amish country tomorrow turns up Whoopie Pies and homemade ice cream and other such goodies) OR purchase the super great deals of socks and wife-beater "seconds" bought in bulk ...
Anyway -- chess sets and nativity sets and Hardy Boys books and good food and socks and wife-beaters in bulk -- that's all I'm asking for -- nothing too special -- just my kind of flea marketing ...
SO ... I GUESS THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT I DON'T RECOMMEND IT:
http://www.swap-o-rama.com/swap/alsip.html
BURR OAK CEMETERY (notice the contact the sheriff "tile" on the website):
http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/burroak/
SPEAKING OF GRAVEYARDS, HERE'S A LISTING OF PA DRIVE-INS THAT ARE NO MORE: http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/071698/cover.side.shtml
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