Category: Blog

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you!

 

Name: Emma

How long have you been with Philly AIDS Thrift?
Three years? Four years? I think three and a half. 3.72.

What keeps you coming back to our store?
I just think that it’s a really awesome place to work because I get to wear whatever I want and I have a group of people who support me in their own way. And even though I’m not so direct in helping people, the work I’m doing is going to help people living with HIV/AIDS in the Philadelphia area. Sometimes I think about it and am like “that’s awesome.”

What’s your favorite thing you bought here?
That’s really hard. I have this pair of Lilly Pulitzer vintage men’s shorts that I don’t wear that often, but whenever I do, I have the best day.

Now, how do you pass these long summer days?
Oh you know, lots of iced coffee, lots of watermelon.

At the same time?
Yeah, you know…double fisting. Thinking about the next time I’m going swimming and lots of hanging out with friends.

What’s the #1 top played song on your iPod?
Probably the Chain by Fleetwood Mac.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
An astronaut.

How old is the oldest cell in your body?
Don’t they recycle every seven years?

I don’t know. You tell me. No Google!
Eleven years? Am I right? Somewhere between seven and twenty-two.

What’s a saying that you say a lot?
“Chill dawg!”

Can you taste the difference between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi?
Yeah.

And which do you prefer.
I don’t like cola.

Well I think this interview is over!

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you!

Name: Hayden

Do you shop, donate or volunteer?
I shop here. I volunteer here, sometimes, but I was recently hired onto the staff about a month ago.

Oh, congratulations. What is your new title?
Paid Sorter.

What keeps you coming back to our store?
The enviroment, the people. Everyone’s work ethic is really inspiring to me.

What’s your favorite thing you bought here?
Oh! I don’t know! I bought a lederhosen, which was really cool. I’ve gotten a lot of vintage stuff, which is nice. I got these perforated vintage shoes which are in a cream color. They’re like dress shoes, but there’s mesh, so it doesn’t feel like you’re wearing shoes.

Oh, that sounds great for summer. Speaking of summer, how do you pass these long summer days?
I garden a lot in the summer. I drink lots of iced coffee, fight sleep every night I can. In the summer, everyone I know has so much free time whereas I have three jobs. So I try to stay up and see a lot of people I don’t see during the school year.

What’s the #1 top played song on your iPod?
It’s constantly changing. Lately I’ve been listening to this fusion–it’s probably the gayest song in the universe. It’s a fusion of Cyndi Lauper and Whitney Houston called Girls Just Want to Dance with Somebody.

What’s your favorite kind of tree, and why?
Oh, that’s a good question. There’s so many different kinds of trees. The Southern Magnolia is the state flower of Mississippi where I was born and that’s a great tree, great climbing tree. But I also like…That’s an awful question to ask me since I’m a gardening enthusiast.

But you just said it was a great question.
It is a great question to ask but not to answer because there are so many trees I like!

(Without exaggeration, Hayden went on to name 27 trees that he liked.)

Do you feel confident that if you were asked on a game show to name as many trees as you can, that you would out-name your competitors?
Probably. At this point, I’ve obsessed over enough trees that I could do that. Add that to my resume.

Do you have any lucky items, mannerisms or traditions?
As far as mannerisms, in the morning I usually drink a crap load of water because my parents were on this raw foods diet that suggested it. Usually I’m not as hungry when I’ve had the water.

Can you taste the difference between Coke and Pepsi?
I can tell the difference but I don’t really like soda, though. I stopped drinking soda regularly like three years ago. But sometimes I cave and drink a cream soda or some ginger ale.

Now, is a picture really worth a thousand words?
Yeah, I’d say so. Maybe it would range between one word and a thousand or more words.

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you!

Name: Rhafeaq

Do you shop, donate or volunteer?
Volunteer and shop.

How long have you been volunteering at Philly AIDS Thrift?
A little over eleven months.

Has it been that long already? Wow. So what keeps you coming back to our store?
The environment. I like it. It’s really fun. The people here are really nice.

What’s your favorite thing you bought here?
A pair of Lucky Brand jeans. I like that I got them here for seven dollars where you could get them elsewhere for forty.

What’s the #1 top played song on your iPod?
Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel

How do you pass these long summer days?
I like walking around, taking a bus ride and getting off. I really like Penn’s Landing. It’s serene and quiet.

What do you dip your chicken nuggets in?
Nothing. I like them plain.

Do you believe there are aliens out there?
No!

What about ghosts?
No.

Vampires?
No.

Zombies?
No.

And finally, if you could go back to school on a full scholarship, what would you study?
Music Theory.

And what would you do with it?
Teach, probably.

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you!

Name: Jennifer

Do you shop, donate or volunteer?
I work here.

How long have you been working at Philly AIDS Thrift?
Three years.

What keeps you coming back to our store?
Paycheck. Just kidding. There’s great people, it’s fun. There’s always great clothes, great deals. Things come in all the time.

What’s your favorite thing you bought here?
Probably the dress I wore to Black Tie Gay Bingo. It’s from the 50’s and it’s embroidered with metallic thread, and it has fringe on the bottom and it’s orange and yellow and black and it’s very beautiful.

What’s the #1 top played song on your iPod?
Do I have a top one right now? Arch & Point by Miguel.

How do you pass these long summer days?
I do projects. I actually use the weight* to make denim patchwork pieces. I’m having an art show of my denim patchwork pieces at the Red Hook Cafe starting July 25.

*We recycle everything here at Philly AIDS Thrift. Sometimes when we get clothing or fabric that can’t be sold, we sell it by the pound to rag companies. We refer to this as “weight.”

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
I really like Cherry Garcia. But I also really like Phish Food and mint chocolate chip and cookies n cream. I like thinks with chunks of chocolate or marshmallow, but not Rocky Road.

What do you like or dislike most about our fair city?
There’s not enough trashcans. That’s what I don’t like the most. What I do like the most is that this is where most of my friends live!

Who was your high school crush?
I don’t want you to put it on the internet! He was my first crush. But he very well knows…

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Radiant Orchid!