not even a bargain at half the price

Note the missing numbers. But still $10.

There is a thrift store in a certain Brooklyn neighborhood that specializes in the most aesthetically-displeasing objects from the worst periods in design. Their offerings are largely from the 70s; however, other decades are represented as well. Each item is such a specific assault on the eyes that I thought, half-way through the store, this was no accident.

They were purposely specializing in failed design.

There were rows upon rows of ripped/dusty/rusty gold, brown, burnt orange velvet, veneer and more, and not the good kind. What's more, each item was so overpriced, it was comical. For some reason, their favorite two prices were $2.99 and $49.99, perhaps due to a defective tagging gun that could only print orange stickers in one of these two amounts. This Brooklyn neighborhood being steeped in detached irony as it is, I decided this thrift store was some sort of art installation, and not the good kind.

The final joke was the Super Sale section of only broken items, and each $10. (These signs were all hand-written. You see? My defective tagging gun hypothesis holds up.) Broken items! For $10! Oh yes, their detached irony was not lost on me.