One rep at a time

Between the sub-zero cold and the MLK holiday (people thought we were closed), the store was quiet yesterday. I was happy to have time to straighten some shelves. (My knee doesn't hurt if I'm standing still, and when I walked around, mostly I leaned on a cart.)

I spied this set of napkin rings, which had been in the napkin-ring bin since before I started 3 months ago. "These are vintage".
(Yep, 1970s. Online, Otagiri–Japan napkin rings are $15–30.)
I windexed the smudges off, repriced the set from 49 cents to $2.99, and put it on the Vintage shelf. I'll be interested to see--I predict it will sell fast.
 

Gym Ben sent an encouraging email to All yesterday evening, after the inauguration of DT:

"It is my deepest hope that our little gym can be a very literal anchor....  We have withstood so many hard times so far, and will continue to do so. Please let me know how I can continue to support you, as we stand shoulder to shoulder, strong and unified."

He signed off,

"Take care of yourselves, take care of each other. 

ISYMFS, One Rep at a Time"

ISYMFS?

I looked it up--it's a weightlifting term that stands for
"It's Still Your Mother-Fucking Set".

That is, don't leave the bench, you still have reps to do. 

 Don't Stop Your Work.

I heard it as an adjunct to the MLK phrase I'd posted yesterday:
"The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice".
It's long means, you still have reps to do...
Keep your eyes on the prize, and pace yourself.

Little motions add up.
A donation of pink and blue paper plates reminded me of the trans flag, so I decided to build an end-cap display around them.
January needs color! And for those with eyes to see, it's welcoming.
               "Life is a beautiful ride."

I abhor the new executive order to lock-down two sexes.
(You know, the horrible Mr Musk declared [to Jordan Peterson * ] that his trans daughter is “dead — killed by the woke mind virus.”)

There are some problems with some trans politics (cult-like pressures to agree or be declared anathema). It reminds me of the ridigity of 1980s lesbian feminism, which I participated in enthusiastically as a scared, angry, righteous 20something.
But declaring your child dead???
That is bonkers.

Ordering there to be only two sexes? That's not even science. You can't order the ocean tides. I know ya'll know... Biological sex can be "kind of science-fiction material".
––"The Idea of 2 Sexes Is Overly Simplistic", Scientific American, 2018.

{DT not being scientific. Imagine that.}

Anyway, anyone's gender is not my business, and I believe (*hope*) that the movement to loosen-up gender restrictions is a move toward liberation.

'ALL ARE WELCOME HERE' is literally true at the store.
You can pass out on our couches, pee on the floor (it's happened), throw a stapler, steal stuff, whatever.
Really, we don't even ban shoplifters. (Well, almost never. There was one guy...)
That can make the store hard, and even unsafe, but I love that that's how we roll.

The Girlettes don't care. Here they are at the end of the day yesterday. "We are girls, but we don't care what you are."
They really don't care, not one jot. "That's a human thing."

* I loved and laughed out loud at this review in the Guardian of Jordan Peterson's new book, We Who Wrestle with God (2024), by Rowan Williams (once archbishop of Canterbury): "A Culture Warrior Out of His Depth".
Williams's is a gentle take-down whose very gentleness is hilarious, almost a la Monty Python--as if you were to argue with Philomena Cunk granting that her points were reasonable.)

Examples that made me smile:

"Peterson’s readings are curiously like a medieval exegesis of the text, with every story really being about the same thing: an austere call to individual heroic integrity."

{Ah, curious, that.}

And, "There is certainly a discussion to be had about toxicity in parenting, but finding it in the second chapter of Genesis requires impressive single-mindedness."

{Impressive single-mindedness. Impressive!}

... And,
"He relies a lot on rather dated Christian commentaries (and seems to have a limited acquaintance with Hebrew, a drawback for a project like this)."

{Rather dated? And a limited acquaintance with Hebrew? Such a shame.}

Final lines of the review:
"This is an odd book, whose effect is to make the resonant stories it discusses curiously abstract. 'Matter and impertinency mixed', in Shakespeare’s phrase."

{We mourn with Shakespeare.}

But---on we go. We got reps to do!

And after, perhaps some tea with milk from a ceramic animal?