If you don't blow your own horn???

Ed Wolfe at the Waffle House once told me, "If you don't blow your own horn, someone else will use it as a spittoon." With that in mind, I offer this post.

I spent last Friday and Saturday sweating my ass off at the 301 Endless Yard Sale in eastern North Carolina. For the past five years I have set up at the Selma Elementary School in Selam, naturally enough. It's always hot in June and out on the parking lot blacktop it's even hotter than hell. This year may have been the hottest so far. Or maybe I am just getting older and my hate for heat is growing.

Anyway, the sale is on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, a guy wandered into my spaces and asked if he could take a picture of me. After determining that it was not for a "wanted" poster or a Gay Pride protest, I agreed. The next day I searched online and found this post on Facebook. It was also on the website "The State You're In," which is all things North Carolina. Other than getting the age of the Life magazines that I sell, I thought that it was great.  (My Life magazines are from 1937 to 1972.)

In the "comments" section they posted two of my sale signs which I have also added. 

The State You're In

June 21 at 3:40 PM  · 

#NorthCarolinaFieldNotes # 5 Mr. Jones & Me

Meet Gilbert Jones, seller, storyteller, and unofficial vibe curator of the 100 Mile Yard Sale.

Now listen, for every hot, sweaty, slightly grumpy soul we passed baking beside a folding table full of mismatched Tupperware and VHS tapes, there was someone like Gilbert, out there with a grin, a lawn chair, and a whole lot of joy. He wasn’t just participating in the yard sale, he was the yard sale. If this thing had a mayor, it’d be him. Self-declared, of course. And I believe it.

Gilbert had the best signs on the whole 301 stretch. You know how I know? Because he told me. And honestly, I didn’t need proof. I believed him the moment I read one on a box of tools said, “Things to loan your kids.”

This man doesn’t just sell, you get a full on front porch experience. Half the folks stopped by for the conversation and forgot to even look at what he had. And maybe that was the point. Gilbert’s table might’ve been covered in rusty wrenches and stacks of LIFE magazines from the ‘80s, but what he was really offering was something you can’t buy at Lowe’s or scroll past on Facebook Marketplace, genuine human connection.

In a world of swipes and screen time, Gilbert’s got the kind of easy charm that can’t be downloaded. He’s lived some years, got some stories, and can make you laugh so hard you forget it’s 95 degrees and your shirt is clinging to you like regrets at a high school reunion.

You see that grin? That’s a man who’s found his happy. A folding table, a hand painted sign, and a steady stream of folks who stop to talk, that’s all he needs.

Be like Gilbert. Be the light.

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