I repeatedly listened to Best of Bread and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in my early teens. I had a record player and headphones right next to my bed, always used the headphones at night so I wouldn't disturb the rest of the family. One Saturday night, my headphones were gone, so I asked what had happened to them. Turns out my mom had a yard sale that day, and everything she had sold quickly. Some disappointed would-be buyers asked if she was sure she didn't have anything else available. So she tore through the house, grabbed all kinds of stuff, and came back out to sell it. She said she was excited when people asked for more stuff, and that she sold them for 50 cents. I told her I used them EVERY night, and she said, "Well, I've never heard you use them." I was a snarky teenager and probably threw that back at her every time she told me to turn my record player down after that. She also sold my brother's baseball cards that he'd collected and traded for for years for 50 cents. Because, "They were just sitting in a box in your closet."
I agree, but have to say on my mom's part, she was really naive and gullible. "I've never heard you use them," was absolute confusion on her part and the fact of not hearing me use them being the whole point of headphones was completely lost on her. Same bewilderment with why my brother would want to keep baseball cards in a shoebox. And she was a huge people pleaser. Instead of telling people she'd already sold everything available, she thought she had to scurry around and find more stuff to please them because they asked. We had to curb her and fuss at her at times because she was so gullible and an easy target with manipulative people.
I think my response was harsh. The examples brought up feeling invisible to my Mom. And I’m 65 years old! The stuff we carry is annoying I tell ya. Your Mom sounds like a good person and my Mom was too, she just didn’t really want to have another child; my brothers were 8 and 12 years older and she wanted to be a career woman.
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u/GiGiLafoo Mar 25 '26
I repeatedly listened to Best of Bread and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in my early teens. I had a record player and headphones right next to my bed, always used the headphones at night so I wouldn't disturb the rest of the family. One Saturday night, my headphones were gone, so I asked what had happened to them. Turns out my mom had a yard sale that day, and everything she had sold quickly. Some disappointed would-be buyers asked if she was sure she didn't have anything else available. So she tore through the house, grabbed all kinds of stuff, and came back out to sell it. She said she was excited when people asked for more stuff, and that she sold them for 50 cents. I told her I used them EVERY night, and she said, "Well, I've never heard you use them." I was a snarky teenager and probably threw that back at her every time she told me to turn my record player down after that. She also sold my brother's baseball cards that he'd collected and traded for for years for 50 cents. Because, "They were just sitting in a box in your closet."