Paradise Can Be Painful
Some scrounging opportunities are so overwhelming that it’s difficult to take full advantage of them. This morning I went to the WCLV Garage Sale, where they were selling more than 6,000 CDs to clean house before moving their offices downtown. $2.00 each, all you want. Truly, this is hard to beat, for the classical music fan.
So off I went, getting there an hour early, because I suspected that there would be a giant crowd. It turns out that I was plenty early, as they hadn’t set things up yet, and we didn’t even know where to line up. I spent an enjoyable 20 minutes in the parking lot with a friendly gentleman who works at Case Western Reserve University. More folks began showing up, and an announcer came out to chat with us. She told us that the entrance would be around the side, where the CDs were, in the two-bay garage. Two policemen showed up to make sure that the rowdy classical crowd wouldn’t riot, but we behaved ourselves. I wandered over to the place where the line would form, and ended up being the second person there. Robert Conrad, the chief honcho, also came out to say hello, and explained that the CDs were not in any particular order, except that the jazz was in the back. Jazz? Now torn, I would have to hit that section first.
When they opened we filed forward, discovering that we couldn’t use the bags that some of us had brought, but instead were handed WCLV plastic bags. They are considerably smaller, but I discovered that they hold about 35-40 CDs if one is careful. The jazz section was magnificent, but filled with artists I’d never heard of. I moved to my plan B, which is to look for familiar labels, and found several from Zoho, Azica, and other companies. When I got slightly satiated, I turned around to check the back end of the classical section, which was much, much larger. I started finding things of interest immediately-- early music, choral works, modern chamber music -- and filled up my bag almost immediately. I went to ask about getting another bag, and one of the nice ladies got me one. As I was waiting, I noticed that a huge line had developed. They were only letting in so many people at a time. I realized at that point that whatever I got this first go-round would be it. I wasn’t going to wait for an hour to get back in.
My second bag filled quickly. I began in the front this time, and found dozens of CDs that had never been opened, from Albany, MSR, and other labels. Most of them don’t fit the programming policy of the station, so they got put aside. In all, I came out with 75 CDs, a drop in the bucket compared to what I could have gotten, but with $150 on the line already, I wasn’t going to go for bag number three. But how could I leave all that music still sitting there? ARRRGG! One definition of hell is being given everything you want. There’s no way to take advantage of it all. Ah, well. I paid for my booty, and headed down the driveway, being eyed enviously by the now even longer line of hopefuls. A couple of folks asked what it was like. I could only say that they wouldn’t be disappointed.
Check them out and listen online at http://www.wclv.com/
