Today, we had a gate sale.

A few weeks ago, Margie, roommate, colleague, and friend, told me about The Reverse 100 Thing Challenge, which, as the name implies, is a challenge to get rid of 100 items by December 15th. When she told me about this, I thought it would be great to partake in, especially since she too was joining in the challenge. So, after just a few days, we had gathered a few things...and then a few more...until we had about 150 items.

Instead of giving everything away like the challenge said, we had the idea of holding a gate sale. I personally don't believe in handouts, and honestly, it was very likely that our donated clothes would've just ended up being turned around and sold for profit anyway. So, offering our items for a significantly reduced price seemed like the best way for a win-win situation.

Early in the morning, around 7:30, we began setting up our goods outside our gate. Unfortunately, in the chaos of things I was unable to get a picture, but I'm sure you can imagine the scene caused by 2 foreigners and their guard setting up a mini-market in front of their house. About 2 hours later, every piece of clothing, down to the last pair of socks, was gone.

However, those 2 hours were not without drama. One woman tried to walk off with an armful of clothing without first paying for it. A huge commotion ensued in which the woman, our guard, and 2 bystanders were yelling at each other. Margie and I tried in vain to make peace, but everyone ignored us and continued raising their voices instead. In the end, the woman walked off, clothing in hand, without having given us any money. I still don't know what happened.

Another incident, towards the end, had equally as much drama as the first. This time, a man who was wearing a necklace and a shirt that I was selling, simply waved to me, smiling, as he walked off with my stuff, despite my requests for payment. The crowd just watched as he left, doing nothing to stop him or intervene. When I gave my guard the look of, "What are you going to do about that?", my guard just gave me a grin and shrugged.

After Margie and I closed our gate, counted our "profit," and had a chance to think about what happened out there, we realized there were many items that were "sold" that we had no recollection of selling. Things like a bottle of lotion, a power strip, some books, and a jar, to name a few, did not get paid for. In the midst of the chaos, drama, and commotion, we were robbed - not once, not twice, but multiple times. As Margie and I discussed this situation, there was one thing we simply could not understand: Why would anyone steal something that we were already selling for such a reasonable price? I could understand if our items were very expensive, but we did not quote a price of anything more than $1.50. Furthermore, more often than not, we conceded to what the buyer offered, which was usually somewhere between 20 and 50 cents for one article of clothing. Was it because they needed those items so badly and simply did not have the means to pay for it? Or, was it because we were foreigners? Because they assumed we were rich and would be fine if we didn't receive payment for something?

It's going to take a few days to process all the events of today, and to answer the questions that are swimming around in my head. But, there's one thing I know for sure, and that is while in the end this gate sale was probably somewhat of a win-win situation, it is never going to happen again.

So, like I said before: Today, we had a gate sale.