Crazy with Fire in Their Eyes !

It's been a few months with no swap meets, 3 months since Davenport . . . and when the doors open at 9:00am for the Early Bird on Sunday in Rock Island, Illinois . . . they run in like crazed zombies, saliva dripping from their mouths, all pumped up on morning black coffee.  They push, slide and jockey for position, eyes moving to find the booth with the most rust, to start digging frantically though boxes (oil soaked are the best) and finding parts and pieces, thrusting the parts high in the air, trying to find the vendor for a price, How much?  This your shit?  What ya gotta have for this?  Deals are made.  Green, American dollars are pulled from leather chain-drive wallets with snaps, sealed envelopes, inside coat pockets, front denim pockets . . . many are crumpled, $100 bills so fresh - they're stuck together, crisp and new - exchanged for rusty metal or heavy cast iron.  What a zoo of emotions.  It's nuts.  All this happening inside, aisles filling, while the rest of the penny-pinchers line up outside.  They wait for the actual 10:00am Opening time and save a whole $5 bucks, but stand in line, in the cold, talking and smoking cigarettes.  I finally show up 4 hours later and get right in . . . like a cat picking through scraps.