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Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down -- Except on August 18, 2019

8/18/2019

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Sunday, August 18, 2019, Civic Center, Orland Park, IL

There is a lot of planning that goes into each show. I have too much stuff and can’t take it all to each show. So, I’m always trying to figure out what to bring to each show.


At the July Orland show, I did not sell much out of my display cases and initially thought I would not bring any display cases to the August show, just binders. Then I received a text from one of my “wipe-out artists,” which is someone who buys much the cards in my binders, pretty much wiping them out. It is nice to have a big sale from a wipe-out artist but they leave my binders empty which is a problem when I have a show the next week. I have a hard enough time keeping the binders loaded and the wipe-out artists set me back that much further.

To combat said wipe-out artist, I contemplated not bringing out any binders and just display cases. I went back and forth all week prior to the show trying to figure out what to bring. The night before the show, I decided I would bring out four display cases and most of my baseball binders. This particular wipe-out artists, likes to wipe out my football and hockey binders and I figured I would protect those ones this time around.

I woke up a little later than usual on Sunday morning and hustled to load my car. I was on the road around 7:15 a.m. The rain hit around O’Hare and I had to slow down to about 40MPH because visibility was terrible. It was some scary driving. It was raining so hard I could not see the road and could barely see the cars in front of me. When a truck shot gallons upon gallons of water onto my windshield I decided it would be best to get off the highway and take the regular roads.

I hopped off at Cermak and drove east, figuring I would hit LaGrange Road. I found Wolf Road and drove it south until it ended in some random neighborhood. I had to backtrack. I then found Route 171 which I thought turned into LaGrange. It was actually Archer Avenue and took me way west to Lockport where I figured out I needed to be much further east. In the Lockport the rain came back hard and I parked until it lightened up.

While I sat parked, I figured I would use the GPS on my phone to lead me to Orland Park. No such luck. My phone would not work! It was locked and would not do anything. I couldn't even shut it off. I then started to think that maybe I should just go home but realized I was in Lockport, Illinois, for the first time in my life and had no idea how to get home. I ventured on.

I took the next road east and drove through farm after farm. I had no idea that Lockport was farmland. Stuck in farmland, I lost my sense of direction and wasn’t sure if I was heading east or west. I saw that addresses on the farms were getting smaller so I figured I was heading east.
​
I eventually found Orland Park through the back door and made it to the show around 9 a.m. This was my longest ride ever to Orland. As luck would have it, it was raining cats and dogs when I pulled into the Civic Center parking lot. I decided I would just bring in my bins of binders and leave the showcases in the car. It was raining too hard to pull the showcases out.

I exited the vehicle, pulled out five bins then my cart and received a thorough soaking. By the time I made into the Civic Center, water had pooled on top of my bins. I dumped some of the water out. I was a dripping wet mass of liquid as I traversed the Civic Center. At my tables, I grabbed a garbage can and dumped what seemed like gallons of water into it from the tops of the bins. I left quite a bit of water on the floor, my tables and chairs. I’m thankful nobody slipped in the water.

I was the last dealer to arrive. It looked like everyone made it into the show before the rain…. but me. I then spread the binders out onto the tables. I had a lot of empty space since I did not bring in the showcases.

After set up, I sat there sopping wet. It seemed like the air conditioning was cranked and I was wet then freezing cold. My clothes were sopping. I pulled out a wad of cash that was soaked. I pulled out my wallet, it was soaked. My shoes and socks were soaked. I was freezing.

Surprisingly, there were a lot of dealers and a good number of customers. Sales started off slow and I did not expect them to get any better because the rain continued. Then Will and Joe arrived with a hot cup of coffee. Man, I was thankful. I really needed that coffee. As I warmed up from the coffee, sales started to jump and kept jumping for hours. I ended up having a monster day. There was not one, but several wipe-out artists. My binders got hit hard but I went home with a pocket full of wet cash.

Paul lent me a hoody which saved me from shivering all day. Thanks Paul! It was nice and sunny by the time I was on the road home and found my way without getting lost. The only bummer was that many of my baseball binders are now empty.
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Next up is my show at the Salvation Army in Oak Creek, WI, on Sept. 7. I have no idea what to bring out for this show. The baseball binders from 1964 on back are about empty. I may just bring out my football binders and some showcases. I have a couple weeks to figure this one out. I sure hope it doesn’t rain on Sept. 7!!
 
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    Tony Gordon

    Vintage Sports Cards Addict

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