At the Goodwill Outlet, sharpest elbows get the merchandise

New York

ON a recent afternoon, in a warehouse in the Long Island City neighbourhood of Queens, three dozen people assembled behind a strip of tape fixed like a starting line to the concrete floor. Some had burlap sacks tied around their waists to free up their arms; others wore gloves.

A manager placed his hands on his hips, and with all the energy of an exhausted school principal, he addressed the line: "No running, no pushing, no fighting, understand?" He shot pointed looks at a few people. "No throwing clothes on the floor." He repeated the message in Spanish, and stood aside.