Don't know what you've got, until its gone!

I know I've talked shit about the thrift stores I went to for nearly 3 years. Literally hundreds of great deals, between the countless shameful price gouging sessions. But since March I've forgone the traffic jams, gas prices and the very real possibility of wasting time and finding nothing worth buying in favor of the Goodwill outlet, where I rarely leave empty handed.

Today I decided that I wanted to head out to the good old places and see what I could find, most of which were either closed or moved to a different location. Over the time that I've been checking thrift stores I've lost nearly half of them. Strangely enough I've seen more thrift stores close than flea markets.

It hurts to see a place close down, knowing the countless hours I've spent walking the aisles and finding the video game stuff that now clutters my room, instead of the thrift store shelves. The Goodwill outlet seems to be my only source of video games and video game stuff anymore. With the economy being the way it is, thrift stores should be booming, but I see their price gouging has backfired and most of them are shutting down due to their greed and ignorance.

Even though I hated their business practices, for the most part, I have to say that it sucks that I'll never be able to walk down those aisles anymore, looking for good deals. Even though I would often come home empty handed and upset that I couldn't find a deal, at least I was enjoying the wasted time. But once those doors are chained and bolted.. there is nowhere left to go.