Pawn shop shelves full of tough-luck economic stories

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ssf/2008/10/pawn_shop_shelves_full_of_toug.html

Pawn shop shelves full of tough-luck economic stories
by Tom Rademacher | The Grand Rapids Press
Thursday October 16, 2008, 8:46 AM


Tuesday afternoon, Jeremy Swanson bought back a leaf blower he hocked to a Wyoming pawnbroker.

He pocketed $50 two weeks earlier, and now he forks out that plus 35 percent interest to get it back -- a total of $67.50.

Welcome to hard times in Anytown USA, where a rough economy has some people digging deep to sell treasures and necessities in last-ditch efforts to pay for everything from gasoline to utilities.

"I needed the money back then more than I did the blower," said Swanson, who is 28 and works in construction.

"I did what I had to do," the Wyoming resident said. The quick cash went "for diapers and food."

If every item sitting on shelves in pawn shops tells a story, you can bet most of them are sad ones, linked to unhealthy unemployment levels, a sagging stock market, challenging fuel costs and crises in housing, banking, retail and more.

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dozens of items every day for several months now. 90% of the stuff never gets reclaimed and it has gotten really hard to sell items he has that stayed, it seems nobody has any money for that, either. :scared:

I get the point, but a leaf blower might not be a good example. Alternatively, Jeremy could sell the leaf blower outright, buy a rake, and pocket the cash. That's assuming he does not need the blower in his business and/or that he has a small enough yard to manage with a rake.

Then he gets some additional exercise. He doesn't have to buy gas for the blower. Carbon emissions are marginally reduced. Noise pollution is somewhat abated.

My next time out for groceries, I'm going to pedal over to the hardware, buy a bamboo rake, and start raking our library grounds. Maybe then the city won't send around the guy with the leaf blower. Perhaps someone else will get a push mower and the city can stop sending the guy with the sit-down mower in the big truck.