What our garage sale taught us about networking

 Garage sale, moi?

You don’t often think garage sale and corporate image consultant in the same sentence. Some of you may know that we had planned to hold a garage sale to pare down our possessions, especially after helping Terry’s mom and dad downsize their possessions before moving into assisted living. Well, we survived the sale with our marriage intact (fairly intact). We even had fun in the process & learned some networking life-lessons.

Venus and Mars at Garage Sales

One of my favorite hobbies is people watching and I learned some fascinating differences between how men and women shop garage sales. Men tend to shop on their own and will motor through in seconds with a specific goal and purchase in mind. What they’re mainly interested in is electronics, tools and anything mechanical.

Group dynamics

Women on the other hand will shop with their girlfriends, mothers, daughters, granddaughters and meander and spend hours checking out artwork, house wares, accessories and shoes (yes, I had some slightly used shoes and even some brand new one for sale – see my blog on never worn clothing in my closet confession).

Couples

Whenever couples came together they would often tease one another about their weaknesses for certain items. The husband usually ending up talking to Terry about cars and tools while the women wanted to know the history of how I acquired the various items.

Strangers Open Up

Another interesting phenomenon was how complete strangers would open up about their lives and especially their challenges. We were surprised to hear how many people were going through similar issues with elderly parents. Others told us about traumatic events.

Sam’s Story

A man named Sam experienced a nasty fall one icy winter several years ago which resulted in him cracking his skull.  It turned out he suffered some brain damage and had to learn how to talk and walk all over again.  Miraculously he made an almost complete recovery.  In fact if it wasn’t for him telling us his story, I never would have guessed there was anything wrong with him.

Why Me?

At one point in his healing journey he asked himself what was the life lesson here, what was he supposed to be learning. He came to the conclusion that he was meant to practice more patience in his life. Now whenever he encounters someone with a disability, someone who is walking slower or talking slower he allows himself to slow down and give them the gift of his time.

Our Garage Sale Treasure

Before meeting Sam that day I would find myself getting a bit impatient with people’s endless questions about how to use the various gadgets we had on display. After he shared his life lesson I reminded myself to give people more time and the gift of being listened to. After all, as human beings what we want most of all in this world is to be acknowledged and validated. Then we give others this gift, they often return it to us.

Other Articles:

• Savvy networking skills, the key to connecting in business and life.

Posted by Joanne Blake – corporate image consultant  and garage sailor