ALLEN, Texas _ The very last thing Alan Hairston was supposed to do with even a fraction of the borrowed $1,200 in his pocket was take a gamble.
But he couldn't help himself. He had a feeling. He just had to.
Turns out, he may have won a lottery of sorts. When all is said and done, his $330 reach could bring a return of as much as $100,000 in a sports memorabilia auction. Who knew that magazines _ a complete collection of Sports Illustrated _ might be that valuable.
On the last Thursday morning of March, Alan, a 27-year-old unemployed butcher, took a chunk of the cash burning a hole in his pocket and spent it at a storage auction.
Most of the money was supposed to cover the April rent on his family's Allen apartment. His 23-year-old wife, Jacqui, reminded him of just that as he climbed from the cab of the family's 2003 White Silverado pickup, which also had a monthly payment due, and headed into a storage facility in Plano, Texas.
Jacqui would have joined her husband, but they had their 22-month-old son along for the ride and children were not welcome at the auction.
Alan transitioned full time from slicing meat to chasing repossessed storage units in October after being laid off by the supermarket chain where he had worked for nine years. His fallback was storage auctions.
He and Jacqui became intrigued with the phenomenon of buying units, contents unknown, after discovering Storage Wars on cable television. At first it was just a hobby. They attended to observe others but not bid. Gradually, they tiptoed into their own little skirmishes, buying units for $25 to $50 and learning just how competitive auctions can be.
