Thrifting has been a hobby of mine since I was a freshman in high school. It began with after-school trips with my best friend. We would browse through aisles, joke about articles of clothing we would never wear, and discover pieces that would later become wardrobe staples. What started as an occasional activity with a friend eventually became something I enjoyed doing weekly with my dad.
As I got older, thrifting became one of the ways my dad and I spent time together. After he came home from work at night and I returned from soccer practice, we would drive to our closest Savers or Goodwill. We have completely different styles and reasons for thrifting: I search for new clothes to wear, while he prefers finding vintage items to re-sell. I can spend hours looking through the clothing racks, while he wanders around the store searching for something that catches his eye.
I didn’t mind that we spent most of our time on opposite sides of the store. Every so often, one of us would find something interesting and call the other over to show it off. Sometimes he would find an old item and explain why he thought it was valuable, while I would hold up a sweatshirt and ask him if he thought it was worth the price. These small moments became part of our routine.
Looking back, I realize that I wasn’t going to the thrift store just to find clothes. Those trips gave me and my dad time to reconnect after our busy days at work and school. We could talk about whatever came to mind during the car ride there, laugh at the strange things we found, or simply walk around the store searching for the next treasure. There was no pressure to plan or have a serious conversation; we were simply enjoying each other’s company.
After moving away from home, I’ve come to realize how special those ordinary moments were. When I visit home over breaks from college, I know we’ll have another spontaneous trip to the thrift store. I may have gone into the thrift store looking for a new shirt, but I usually left with something more valuable: another memory with my dad.