A Meaningful Trip to the Thrift Store

Today I did something I had never thought I’d ever do.

I went to the thrift store and bought clothes for an acquaintance who has been struggling financially for a while now.

It was not my first time at a charity store, I often buy there for my family, but it was the first time I bought stuff for someone else. This time it felt like I was on a mission.

While I was walking up and down the aisles of the thrift store, I thought about what this acquaintance of mine must have been experiencing. There have been several signs recently, albeit quite subtle for the most part, that this person was having a hard time.

I now know that it’s not easy to detect when someone is struggling. And by struggling I mean for any reason at all, not necessarily financially. People are too embarrassed to come asking for help.

How long has it been like that for my friend until we finally realized?

In a sense, my trip to the thrift store was a journey of awareness, and certainly gave me food for thought.

My point in this post is not that we should all now pop to the thrift store to buy things for other people, but that we become aware that someone around us might be having a hard time for whichever reason, even though, on the face of it, everything looks normal.

A talk with them might prove very helpful. I sure wish I had checked on my friend earlier.

Have you noticed anyone around you in need of reaching out today?

By Didi Gorman
Wise Choice Market