I was in one of the thrift stores that I frequent this morning. I checked it out. Didn't really find anything. No big deal. That's pretty much the case about ninety percent of the time. But, every now and then you do find that treasure. That's what leads to the quest.
 
Anyway, and in any case, just as I was about to leave, I hear this one sweet young lady telling one of her coworkers, “When they make my biopic. I'll tell them you were the one who sold me my first camera.”
 
You may not know this, but most thrift stores and thrift store chains do not allow their employees to buy any of the things they have for sale. I mean, I get it, for if those employees grabbed the best of the best, maybe even ran a resale business on eBay, they'd have first dibs. With this, I'm sure if the stores allowed this to take place, all of the really cool, highly valuable, elementally vintage items would be gone. Then, what would be left for the rest of us?
 
This being said, this particular thrift store chain actually allows their employees to buy some of the donations that they receive. There's been more than a few times when I visited this shop, where I see one of the employees grabbing that really cool piece of clothing, maybe something fun from the electronics department, or just that something something that they really want. Whatever… That's just the name of the game at this shop.
 
Today, however, what was going on was this one employee had gotten hold of what was, once-upon-a-time, in the long ago and the far-far away, a very high-end prosumer video camera made by Panasonic. I may have even owned one, way back in the way back when? I know I've worked with that model from time to time.
 
She was totally stoked. You could totally see it in her eyes.
 
My belief, is that she's probably a wannabe actress. Because pretty much, here in LA, every pretty person, young or old, is dreaming of making it to the big time.
 
As I stood within earshot, I could hear her making her exclamation to her co-worker This made me smile. Me, I've heard so many people saying so many similar things. …That they were going to be the one that made it. Unfortunately, of all the people who exclaimed some similar something, I never encountered one who actually did. The ones I did come to know that were just starting out their careers and then made the big breakthrough, they were always the most humble. But anyway, before I get too far off track…
 
The camera the girl had in her hand was beat. I would never have bought it. Yes, once-upon-a-time it was a great camera. But, just by looking at it from a distance, I could tell you, it wasn't in great shape.
 
The thing is, particularly with the cameras from back in the day that ran tape, people just don't understand, the heads get out of alignment, there can be all kinds of problems with the electronics. Those cameras were just not made to last. Maybe you got a couple of years of use out of them or maybe you didn't. Maybe you took them to the shop to be repaired a few times. Or, maybe you just donated them to a thrift store.
 
Sadly, I don't believe this girl is going to really get the camera of her dreams, ushering her way into the glamorous life. But I, of course, wish her all the best. Maybe it will work. Who knows?
 
As the girl made her statement, it kind of made me laugh to myself. The first thought in my mind was, they've already made my biopic. The problem is, unless you're the one in control, they never come out quite the way you had hoped. But, that's just nothing in the reality of the not too important.
 
So, what's the point to all this? The point is, we all have our dreams. Everyone does. Some of us are able to achieve some of them. Some, only talk about the achievement of their dreams. Some only dream their dreams but never speak a word. And some, like this girl, buy that camera hoping it will be her ticket to the stars. You never know? Hopefully it will be.