Golf Carts for Sale on Flea Markets

I wonder how widespread the fascination is to those flea markets. I have been for many years held a keen interest in it. I used to remember the times when my mom would drag me from one to another on weekends, seeking untold treasures amidst those items being hawked by vendors from all over town.

I’d say my mom held the throne in finding the quaintest of things and seeing the best possibilities there is for every item available. Give half the chance she’d probably drag a lot of the stuff home. Thank God daddy is always around to make sure she doesn’t go beyond herself. The practice was inevitably handed down to me. I used to remember pouring my pennies and quarters in a piggy bank and at the end of each month she’d double my savings and I get to buy the knick knacks I want. Those kinds of memories are indelible to an impressionable child at the age of 8.

Now at 38, I’m onto another one of those shopping expeditions and trotting behind me is my 9 year old tot. This is the first time I dragged her into one of these. As I looked back at her, I could only shake my head and shrug. I must have had the same expression as she had back in the old days. The smell, the sounds, the jostling of the crowds as they move from one stall to another and of course all those various treasures… it is indeed a fascinating sight to behold.

We were moving from display to another. I’d examine crockery here, a grandfather clock on the other and even skimming through old novels and turn of the century clothes. I am trying out my bargaining prowess on one of the sellers while my daughter looks at the other stuff on display. A few minutes into an intense haggling, we finally agreed with a price on the antique quilt. I looked around and saw my daughter eying the golf cart for sale. I asked her why she seems interested in it. She answered that she misses her dad. I had no words for that. After our painful divorce was finalized a month ago, I am yet to see or hear from him.

I took her hand and offered to buy a banana split from her favorite ice cream parlor. I thought it would be a great way of distracting her while I am furiously thinking about how to best explain the situation. This is the first time she has openly broached the subject. Halfway into the treat and I still am yet to explain the whole affair. I took deep breaths and finally said, ‘Honey, like that golf cart on sale, your daddy is off better off with another owner that might require his services. I’m afraid that mommy is in need of something newer and better for the future.’

I’m not sure if I said the right thing. It’s the best I could come up with at that time. If it’s any consolation, she never brought up the subject again the rest of the day. There are still days ahead of me and I could probably think up of something more plausible than that.