work
I'm currently working at an antique mall, doing the usual stuff but also curating, arranging and photographing items for auctions. It puts me in a neat place- being among the first to see new items brought in, and able to see what items are selling most.
While I have noticed some obvious trends- such as aqua ball canning jars flying out of the store almost daily, there are always some things I find to be odd. In a span of 3 days we sold 6 or 7 items related to turkeys -and mind you this was in January- and then just like that, we haven't sold a turkey since. I'll always wonder what things are purely coincidence and what things are actually being influenced by something logical.
Some days I'll ask the customers why they chose the items they did, and funny enough sometimes they don't really have a solid answer beyond just liking the item. My favorite was an older fellow who was at a loss for what to get for his 16 year old granddaughter. He explained that she grew up in NYC, always had everything she ever wanted, and felt that Ohio was a useless state (having just relocated with her parents). Now me, who grew up in Ohio, having and not having what most normal kids do, and being rather alarmed by how chaotic NYC is, wasn't of much help. An hour later he returned to the counter with a large thick glass plate decorated with flowers, circa 1960's. I'll always wonder what her reaction was to it, I thought it was pretty neat, personally.