Do you like to watch?

[Stoneface]

Since the subject of digging etiquette has come up lately I have a question for the discolored digit crowd:

Is it bad form to glance over at another, who is next to you, whence they are fingering a crate? I find myself doing this at times as it can be a time saver. Sometimes when I am almost done with the lot that I have access to, I peek at the LPs they are going through to see if there is anything interesting. Mind you I never interfere in any way with their business; I just find it to be a time saver if the situation presents itself.

[Belson]

I keep myself to myself. I'll set up at another part of the store, and then the problem you'll have is how fast I go through the racks !

So I don't bother with other people and what they're looking at....just power through.

[nosoul]

i hate it when your at record fairs n some ol smelly bloke starts, touchin the records your lookin at n rudely trys to muscle in on the rack your flickin through..

i was in a junk type shop once with one little box of records i was lookin through n this fat skinhead lezza started pullin records out the same box i was lookin at, flippin rude man, so i started arguing with her...freak

[Warren]

I can see the temptation, but avoid doing this. I equate it to looking over someone’s shoulder at their newspaper...it is not really the done thing.

I also find that I have to concentrate on the records I am looking at, rather than also trying to look at the person next to me. I am readily amazed at the speed some people go through racks of records. They either have a photographic memory or are looking for something very specific.

At each record I am first looking at the artist & title to see if I recognize it, and if not then the cover in order to make a judgment as to whether I should turn it over to look at the label, producer, date, musicians etc. Thus my brain takes a little time to compute all this before moving on to the next record. Being a bloke multi-tasking isn’t my strong point – so I need to focus on the rack in front of me

[153rd_soul]

i allways get mad if someone looks over my shoulder into the crate i am diggin in... and if he dares to touch a record in that crate...
its like if you're reading a newspaper in the cafe or the train and someone sits down near you to read it too...

[emperor tomato ketchup]

Its like lapdancing you can look but not touch.

I only do it if someones looking at a rack right next to me or its the only one I want to look at and I'm just wiatingfor them to finish.

Not sure I see the newspaper analogy - a newspaper is somehting you've bought, its yours for private consumpation. The box of records aren't yours (not yet) and are on public display. Its like saying someones shouldn't read an ad on the tube if you are reading it.

[wms68]

Do you like to watch?

should this not referred to as "dogging", rather than digging?

[peretti]

Its like lapdancing you can look but not touch.

I only do it if someones looking at a rack right next to me or its the only one I want to look at and I'm just wiatingfor them to finish.

Not sure I see the newspaper analogy - a newspaper is somehting you've bought, its yours for private consumpation. The box of records aren't yours (not yet) and are on public display. Its like saying someones shouldn't read an ad on the tube if you are reading it.

For records it's always interesting to see what other people are into but I don't hover with the intention of swooping in to pick up the gems they've overlooked. I always assume that people will pick out the same stuff as me but they usually walk away with stuff I'd consider to be absolutely rubbish. Watching's okay and even asking to dip into a fellow digger's crate can be okay if done politely.

As for over-the-shoulder newspaper readers, the fun is in judging exactly when to turn the page so that they never get to read more than a couple of lines. Course, I never get to read more than a couple of lines either. So maybe not so clever after all...

[vibra]

Its like lapdancing you can look but not touch.

I only do it if someones looking at a rack right next to me or its the only one I want to look at and I'm just wiatingfor them to finish.

Sorry were you talking about digging or lapdancing on that last sentence?

[eric-adams]

what i hate is when the guys are watching the crate your in but are talking to the seller at a boot sale about some record they found and its rare.
the last one was some guy talking about this 7" he found last week and its really really rare, its by a band who have a single in the rare record collectors guide and the one he doesnt have is worth £150, so this one must be worth more its so rare its not even in the book and the guy kept saying he wouldnt let it go for less than 500 sheets!!.. sheets of what he didnt specify. so i pulled a nice few lps out of his £1 box paid for them and walked off laughing.

[Brainbomb]

What I really hate are people who flip through a crate and pull out the LPs they are interested and immediately spend 5 minutes carefully reading liner notes and checking condition before moving on in the crate- even though they clearly see that someone is waiting.

Now - good etiquette, as I always use, is to pull out the LPs and put them aside and finish the crate as quickly as possible - then check the albums out further when you've left room for the next person to access the crate.

[eric-adams]

For records it's always interesting to see what other people are into but I don't hover with the intention of swooping in to pick up the gems they've overlooked. I always assume that people will pick out the same stuff as me but they usually walk away with stuff I'd consider to be absolutely rubbish. :

i do this all the time just checking out what other people are buying to see if they are any competition to me and weather i should race ahead but mostly people buy crap (though what i buy prolly seems like crap to them) thers another guy at my boot sales who looks like hes looking for breaks and stuff he always buys all the soul and hip hop before me but misses all the break records. he just leaves them and buys the george benson lps!! quite lucky for me though i suppose.

[son of stan]

With the newspaper thing I usually shame them by pointedly and abruptly putting the paper away. (It's called cutting off your nose to spite your face).

I never really suffer with the record box intrusion one much....although I did have to tell some young fella, "Calm down son, I haven't finished yet," the other week.

From the other side though is there anything more irritating than waiting while someone who you just know has no intention of buying anything plods through some box of crap, painstakingly scrutinising every single record, front and back? You know its a box of crap but still you wait until nuisance has completed his task. Just in case.....

[babycart]

I used to watch, but try not to nowadays: it's too frustrating. Seeing some bloke lift out a record you've been after for ages, hum and hah over it for three minutes, put it back, finish the box, have second thoughts and lift it out again, hum and hah again, then ask the seller to put it aside for him for a couple of hours. i still can't help it sometimes, but unfortunately those blinkers that carthorses wear are never going to be cool

[vibra]

What I really hate are people who flip through a crate and pull out the LPs they are interested and immediately spend 5 minutes carefully reading liner notes and checking condition before moving on in the crate- even though they clearly see that someone is waiting.

I'd never tolerate that sort of behaviour. A polite but firm "Excuse me mate, can I look through these?" will usually sort this character out.

The ones that get my goat are the people who don't seem to be looking in the shop for anything in particular at all, then notice you looking at some records and go "ooh, look.. there's something I can waste my time looking at", and start flicking through a pile that you're about to look through. You can tell by the way they handle the records that they probably don't even have a record player, as well as the fact that they *always* leave the shop empty-handed, but because they've seen you looking through them they're just going to have to fucking join in as well, aren't they? Tossers..

[eric-adams]

we should all get vinyl vulture t shirts for the summer months of booting with "FUCK OFF THIS IS MY BOX" written of the back in massive bold text.

[babycart]

Oh yes, and there's the guy who hogs the box while he phones his mate on his mobile to see if the record's worth buying. I suppose it's within the rules, but it sets off terrible carboot-massacre fantasies to unspool in my mind. usually involving that big gun they use to waste half the rainforest with in 'Predator', the one where the only sound afterwards is the descending whine of the spinning magazine...

[peretti]

I'd never tolerate that sort of behaviour. A polite but firm "Excuse me mate, can I look through these?" will usually sort this character out.

The ones that get my goat are the people who don't seem to be looking in the shop for anything in particular at all, then notice you looking at some records and go "ooh, look.. there's something I can waste my time looking at", and start flicking through a pile that you're about to look through. You can tell by the way they handle the records that they probably don't even have a record player, as well as the fact that they *always* leave the shop empty-handed, but because they've seen you looking through them they're just going to have to fucking join in as well, aren't they? Tossers..

I'm probably quite slow compared to some lightning fingered fiends. I don't spend hours over liner notes but if I start a box at the same time as the fella next to me it's rare that I get through mine first. Some people go so fast I can't believe they even know what records they're looking at and sometimes I suspect they're just going as fast as they can to show off. Or maybe I'm just fucking slow and that's my inadequacy showing.

[vibra]

I'm probably quite slow compared to some lightning fingered fiends. I don't spend hours over liner notes but if I start a box at the same time as the fella next to me it's rare that I get through mine first. Some people go so fast I can't believe they even know what records they're looking at and sometimes I suspect they're just going as fast as they can to show off. Or maybe I'm just fucking slow and that's my inadequacy showing.

Oh, it's nothing to do with pace. The characters I referred to act in such a way that you just know they have no desire whatsoever to buy a record, like previously looking at a collection of spoons or something - they probably don't even have a record player. But they're just stood there in the shop looking around, in a kind of "what am I doing here?" type way, when they notice you looking through records and decide to join in. I am surely not alone on encountering this one.

[Brainbomb]

Well Peretti - what makes me angry is not if someone doesn't work his way through the box at top speed. It's that people don't understand that they can put the ones they're interested in aside, then check condition carefully. I never check even if it's the correct disc inside the sleeve if someones waiting. I do that afterwards while they have access to the box. It's like they find some perverse pleasure in having other people wait.

[Brainbomb]

Oh, it's nothing to do with pace. The characters I referred to act in such a way that you just know they have no desire whatsoever to buy a record, like previously looking at a collection of spoons or something - they probably don't even have a record player. But they're just stood there in the shop looking around, in a kind of "what am I doing here?" type way, when they notice you looking through records and decide to join in. I am surely not alone on encountering this one.

I was in a charity a few months ago and there were a few LPs that could be worth picking up, a Lou Reed and a Nick Cave for example. They had no sign showing the prices - so I walked up to the counter and asked how much they were without bringing what I was interested in. Immediately this geezer looking at used sportsjackets ran like hell over to the records and started going through them like mad. Luckily he started in the wrong crate so I could still pick out the ones I wanted. It's like he was just casually shopping for clothes someone died in, and then when I asked the question he thought Ohmygodthere'sgottabeaBeatlesOGworthhundredsinther e and decided to find it and buy it before me or something...

[son of stan]

I am surely not alone on encountering this one.

Not at all. That was kind of what I was on about. Folks just passing the time.

And what about those people who bring their offspring into charity shops for a free play with the toys / read of the kids books (which they throw all over the floor so you can't get near anything)?

[nosoul]

the average punters who spend time in junk shops/ charities are generally 'crazies' people of poor personel hygeine, unemployed and desperate to talk to someone/ have nothing thing to do and you usually find them the day there dishing out medication/ scripts or its giro/ care in the community allowance day..

to be fair

[peretti]

Well Peretti - what makes me angry is not if someone doesn't work his way through the box at top speed. It's that people don't understand that they can put the ones they're interested in aside, then check condition carefully. I never check even if it's the correct disc inside the sleeve if someones waiting. I do that afterwards while they have access to the box. It's like they find some perverse pleasure in having other people wait.

If someone's waiting I try to go faster and I do pull out likely looking records to go through more closely whilst I let someone else into the box. At least I don't do that thing where I put a record bag on the crate to my right and lay my potential purchases across the one to my left then stand with my elbows out and feet spread wide apart. The classic digger offensive / defensive stance. Record and Tape in Camden in particular is full of sharp-elbowed, bandy-legged fuckers with no taste or manners. Then there's the digger I'm often up against at my local boot (outdoors, of course) who is so smelly I can't even stand next to him while I wait for him to finish. Normally I'll go and look a collection of spoons or something while i wait...

[Brother Logic]

What I really hate are people who flip through a crate and pull out the LPs they are interested and immediately spend 5 minutes carefully reading liner notes and checking condition before moving on in the crate- even though they clearly see that someone is waiting..

This is my standard tactic if I get the feeling that someone is hovering or looking over my shoulder - as Mr. Fischer himself says, patience is a virtue.

[son of stan]

Oh yeah, tactics....

The standard one when confronted with a box of 7"s and a box of LPs: place the box of 7"s on top of the LPs and look through the 7"s first (while preventing anyone else going through the LPs). Or does this make me a menace?

[effi_deep]

i really don't like any of these tactics!
these are exactly the things i really hate when people in front of me are doing this. i mean, c'mon, we're all having the same passion, so why making a "war" out of it? taking everything you see just that no one else can have a look? you have to decide in front of the boxes through which one you will go first. maybe you have luck or not. if the guy beside you picks out some nice 7" while you go through all the phil collins and wham records is it bad. but its fair to everyone.
any other tactic is boring!

[153rd_soul]

I'd never tolerate that sort of behaviour. A polite but firm "Excuse me mate, can I look through these?" will usually sort this character out.

right!
back to the newspaper-thing... if someone asks me for reading an article in my newspaper i would never even think of saying 'no, sorry, its mine'... same for crates (but i'll take out any possibly intresting things first... )

[babycart]

I was in London once and found two nice boxes of new stock at the same time as another punter. We were both salivating and flicking through the records and whipping them out while simultaneously clocking the other pull good stuff out of his box. We swopped places and realised that each of us had got the good stuff.
Later on I went to another shop and he was the guy behind the counter. We ended up trading about half the stuff we'd bought. I don't know why we both felt we couldn't have done this earlier, something to do with pride, competition and envy.

[Rich Hero]

This is my standard tactic if I get the feeling that someone is hovering or looking over my shoulder - as Mr. Fischer himself says, patience is a virtue.

Yep, join the club. And it's got to be the most banal record in the crate that I scrutinise closely, too.