The One That Got Away: A Lesson in Buying What You Love

As I was shopping in Northcenter last week, I came upon a framed photo apparently shot by an amateur photographer for ten dollars. I liked the photo enough to stop and snap a photo of it with my phone ... but not enough to buy it on sight. I am now regretting that decision.

There's this little secondhand shop on Lincoln Avenue, just south of the Trader Joe's, called Carlos and Sarah's Surplus of Options. If you've driven down this stretch of Lincoln Avenue, you know that store I'm talking about - there's a desert scene painted on the side of it and there's usually furniture stacked up on the corner. I've always meant to stop into this store but it wasn't until I was writing the Northcenter post that I finally made it in ... only to find out that the store is closing at the end of this month. Insert sad trombone sound here.

Don't put away that sad trombone just yet. I'll be needing it again later. So I'm wandering around the Surplus of Options looking at the limited inventory. Since the store is closing at the end of the month, they've sold off most of their bigger pieces. And then, down on the floor, I saw a little pile of framed photos - including the one above. Most of the photos were in black and white but there a couple of color shots, all apparently taken some time in the 1970's. The woman in the photo above appears in many of the other shots as well. But it was this photo, with the women in her amazing patterned dress and the flash of her panties and that sideways glance, that spoke to me. OK, wait, that sounded gross. I promise, there's nothing pervy going on here. I'm honestly looking at the photo as amazing outsider art. I had an immediate reaction to it but I put it back down and walked away.

A few days later, after showing the photo on my phone to anyone who would look, I went back to buy it. And, of course, it was gone. Cue the sad trombone. Someone much smarter than myself looked at it and thought, "Oh, it's only $10. Of course I'll buy it!"

I flipped through all the other photos but I didn't feel the same visceral connection to any of them. I once again walked out of the store empty handed.

The lesson here? If you love it and you can afford it, buy it. Don't wait, don't second guess, just buy it.

Images: Jason Loper