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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU for not wanting to go to another boot sale?

54 replies

MissLanesAmericanCousin · 06/02/2019 18:45

Let me preface this by saying that DH and I are American's so what I really mean is swap meet, but apparently, it is close enough.

We have been going to these swap meets for over a decade, but something has changed. We normally go at night, which has more to choose from and better food. We could go in the morning but it's mostly antiques dealers with overpriced trinkets.

Last time we went was last year, about 4 months ago. DH got into a huge row with a lady who cut in front of us, while we waited for a parking space. She was swearing like a sailor in front of her kids. I told DH to take a deep breath and find another spot. She even gave us the finger as we were leaving.

The time before that DH and I had a great time listening to music, eating señora hot dogs enjoying the cool night air. When we left the swap meet, to find our car, we noticed someone had made a ball of mud and threw it at the back of our windshield.

We do have a sporty car (not a BMW or Porsche) but it is a nice convertible. However, I think we earned it, in that we both come from extremely poor backgrounds, (he grew up in a trailer, I grew up near a crackhouse and was homeless for a year] we are child free (so not taking food away from our child's mouths) and we have never been given any money except a small inheritance of 1,000 USD which I gave to DH as a present. Everything we have, we've earned.

Now, I'm afraid to go back in case the same thing happens again. DH thinks it was just a coincidence and maybe we should try in the mornings. Who is right? Who is wrong?

Thank you MN! Smile

OP posts:
Lovingbenidorm · 07/02/2019 00:35

Swap meet, boot sale?
Different words for a total pile of shite
No thank you!!
There are a hundred better things to be doing, no thousands!

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 00:36

halfwitpicker, no, I live in the Southwest,so there are a lot of Latinas and Latinos here. I myself am mixed. My mother is Spanish and Mexican, my father was English, German and French and Hungarian.

I just found out the Hungarian part this year and I'm stoked! I was hoping to be be part Gypsy, but I read that the majority are Roma. So that kind of sucks for me! I'm a huge fan of Stevie Nicks so I thought it fit-you know, the way I dress, talk, carry myself and that I like write poetry and paint. I really hope I don't get flamed for what I just wrote here. Just ignore the idiot American. Dives under the bed. Takes cat with her Blush

OP posts:
Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 00:44

namechange5575 Thank you! That helps, loads! Smile

Lovingbenidorm Hey! Don't knock till' you try it! We found a gorgeous antique chandelier there 7 years ago for $5.00/3.87 Pounds! It's super fun and the food is delicious! Not to mention, the music and laughter and just all around happiness! It's like going to a street fair at night! Grin

OP posts:
badlydrawnperson · 07/02/2019 01:18

OP - Car Boot Sales here (UK) aren't synonymous with Swap Meets. For a start off, no-one here asks anything other than outrageous (more than new) prices for their stuff here :)

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 01:26

badlydrawnperson, Oh my bad! Blush

I thought it was the equivalent of what we call a rummage sale or a a garage sale/yard sale but in one giant place, like a fairground.

I was trying really hard to communicate my thoughts correctly, seeing that this is a UK site. Obviously, I failed spectacularly. Blush Sorry!

OP posts:
YourFly · 07/02/2019 01:39

A car boot sale in the U.K goes like this -

Fill car with loads of musty shit/nice stuff.

Leave home at 06.00 in the dark.

Arrive in a wet boggy field.

Give a stranger £6.00 for your pitch & hope they actually work there.

Shout at people for opening your boot and trying to rummage/steal whilst you are still parking.

Put items on a wallpaper table/clothes rail.

Watch table & rail collapse.

Stand for 4 hours with numb feet.

Not drink hot tea as there are no toilets and no-one to watch your stall.

Get used to people saying
"How much?"
"£3.00 please"
"I will give you 20p"

Make sure no-one steals anything.

Then pack up all your leftover shit.

Go home & shove it all in the shed to get even more musty for another 12 months until you feel the urge again.

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 01:54

YourFly HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Omg! I'm so sorry! But, yeah, what you describe is nothing like the swap meet except for making sure no one steals your stuff and the haggling! We've done it twice before it it was really fun but we'll never do it again cause' it was such a looooooong day!

Now we go to shop and socialize and enjoy the Mexican colas and the great Sonoroan hot dogs! We also don't haggle that much as a lot of the people that go there are regular folk, not wealthy antiques dealers.

OP posts:
ushuaiamonamour · 07/02/2019 09:17

MissLanesAmericanCousin

Just talk to me like a 5 year old American girl. I won't take offense.

Ah, now, honey bun don't be scared. That lady wasn't acting very nice, was she? But always remember that sometimes nice people aren't very nice because they're having a hard time in life that you don't know anything about. I don't know if that's why your DH argued back, but he shouldn't have--now, you don't have to tell him I said that. You did exactly the right thing when you told him to drive away. Good for you.

Honey, why would you be scared of a little bitty ball of mud? Are you afraid that people at swap meets throw a lot of mud balls? Ah, come on, out of all the times you've been how many people have you seen doing that? 'Never'--that's exactly what I thought. You know she doesn't have superpowers so she's not going to find you and throw mud at you, now don't you? You know what? You're kind of getting your knickers in a twist over nothing. Well, I'll help you look up what 'knickers in a twist' means, okay? And when we've done that we might just go and cook ourselves some corndogs for supper.

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 09:28

Oh, ushuaiamonamour, that is one of the sweetest, warmest and the most home inducing thing I have read on MN. Thank you. You make me feel safe. Thank you thank you thank you

Thank you!

Some Flowers, for you! Smile

OP posts:
Lovingbenidorm · 07/02/2019 09:35

MissLanesAmericanCousin sorry to be so derogatory!
What you described certainly sounds a whole lot better than the UK experience of getting up at dawns crack to stand in the pissing rain in some crappy field sifting through heaps of overpriced crap 😂

Lovingbenidorm · 07/02/2019 09:36

Just realised YourFly put it much better!

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 09:39

Lovingbenidorm, that's okay! No worries! Both you and I didn't know! So, we're square! Thanks though! Grin

Here, have some Flowers

OP posts:
PrismGuile · 07/02/2019 09:42

I don't see why you're justifying your car... it's your car. Do you not have another car that is less recognisable?
Tbh I doubt she would do something again even if she did recognise the car, after all it was a mud ball not a rock.

PrismGuile · 07/02/2019 09:43

And yes, he shouldn't have shouted at her even if she did steal his spot- very crass.

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 09:44

Like I said before he shouted in the car not outside of it. I misspoke.

OP posts:
Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 09:45

And, no, we just have the one car.

OP posts:
PrismGuile · 07/02/2019 09:45

🙄🙄🙄 I doubt you were targeted because he's a veteran it was probably random and you're overreacting

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 09:47

They were screaming at each other while sitting in their cars, well she got out, but he stayed put.

OP posts:
Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 09:48

PrismGuile, thank you Prism. I think so too.

OP posts:
MammaSchwifty · 07/02/2019 09:52

Have you tried posting on an American site? People there might understand the specific cultural nuances of veteranship, meat swapping, and vehicle envy better, and be able to offer more informed views!

Original poster
MissLanesAmericanCousin · 07/02/2019 09:54

Just talked to DH and we've decided to go! Can I bring you all a señora hot dog and a Mexican coke in a glass bottle? Grin

If that's not possible, here's this;

Cake and some Wine and some Brew coffee to wake you up! Grin

Thanks all!!!!!!!

OP posts:
VampirateQueen · 07/02/2019 10:14

Glad you decided to go, have a great time, it sounds like so much fun.

ushuaiamonamour · 07/02/2019 10:32

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ - this could be outing for the OP, so we're deleting it to be on the safe side. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Overstory · 07/02/2019 11:13

This was a bizarre ride

halfwitpicker · 07/02/2019 12:10

Hope to see you around these parts again, MissLanesAmericanCousin, you're a lot of fun on this dull British site

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