I said, “One pair of bermuda shorts. That will be $2.19 with the tax, Ma’am.”

The customer handed me her credit card and said, “Run it for $20.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you cash back,” I said. “This is a thrift shop and we can’t do that. You need to go to a bank or an ATM if you want cash back.”

“No, the rest is for you,” she said. “It’s a donation.”

“You mean you want us to keep the $17 and change?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, uh, thank you! I’ve been volunteering at this shop for nearly two years and no one has ever done that! Thank you so much!”

That actually happened last week at the St. Paul’s Thrift Shop on North Main Street in Daphne, where I serve as cashier every Wednesday morning. I meet such interesting people there. Wednesday mornings have become one of my favorite times during the week.

I was also able to help a newcomer to the area last week when she didn’t find what she needed in our shop.

“Are there any other thrift stores in this area?” she asked.

“Yes, Ma’am,” I said. “The Goodwill store right down the street has a lot of good things, and then there’s Emmy’s and Sister Julie’s in Fairhope. I’ve bought things there myself. On Highway 181 there is the Discovery Thrift Store and the Yellow Cottage. And if you’re ever in Gulf Shores, the Holy Spirit Thrift Shop on Highway 59 is a great place to shop.”

Something is on sale every day at our store, marked down from our already bargain price. Last Wednesday it was women’s blouses and slacks, children’s clothing, and paperback books.

One woman bought 12 books for $6. “I clean houses for a living,” she said, “but when I get home at night I travel the world. I just don’t understand people who don’t like to read. When you read, you can go anywhere, do anything, and meet anybody you like, even people who’ve been dead forever. Look, here’s a book on Sir Wilfred Grenfell. I think I’ll spend this evening in Labrador with him!”

“Be sure to take a heavy coat with you!” I said. “And when you’ve read those 12 books, we’ll be glad to take them back as a donation.”

Besides interacting with the customers and other volunteers, volunteering at a thrift shop is a way to help people in need. I like doing that. Not every customer is needy — some have plenty of money but enjoy looking for bargains — but many of our customers cannot afford retail prices. They buy from us or go without.

Our store also gives clothing and household items to people who have lost their homes to fire or flood. I like doing that, too.

Then there are the community grants. Baldwin County thrift stores generate over $2 million in sales every year, which is given to affordable housing, drug treatment centers and other local charities.

I also shop in our store. It’s hit or miss, of course. You don’t have the selection that you find at Dillard’s or Belk’s. If you’re looking for a size 16 skirt to go with a particular blouse, we may not have it (but then, Dillard’s might not have it, either). That’s why some of our customers stop in every week.

But if you don’t find the skirt you’re looking for, you’ll probably find something else that goes with another blouse, or a sconce that’s just right for over your TV, or a gas grill at a fraction of what you’d pay for it elsewhere.

I bought a small tile last week for my daughter-in-law in Rhode Island. She and our son have two little boys. The tile says, “Little boys are trucks & trains and shirts full of stains.” She’ll probably get a chuckle out of it, and if she then throws it out, it’s no big deal because I only paid a dollar for it. That’s another good thing about buying from a thrift store. It’s okay if you decide tomorrow that you don’t want it.

Richard H. Schmidt is a retired Episcopal priest, editor and author who lives in Fairhope. He can be reached at courier@gulfcoastnewspapers.com.