{"id":27211,"date":"2025-07-21T20:51:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T00:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=27211"},"modified":"2026-04-03T01:42:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T05:42:41","slug":"we-were-robbed-why-so-little-of-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=27211","title":{"rendered":"WE WERE ROBBED…WHY? SO LITTLE OF VALUE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I SUPPOSE IT WAS INEVITABLE\u2026ROBBERY<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
july 21, 2025<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I suppose it was inevitable that we would be robbed. too trusting.<\/div>\n
For the last sixty years we have been collecting things<\/div>\n
of little value to anyone. Things touched by a human hand and<\/div>\n
thereby lost their virginity.   Things bent and broken.  Things that will never run gain<\/div>\n
Things whose  slivers have drawn blood and thereby earned<\/div>\n
character and caution.  things that few people would ever want.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Things that tell a story .  Things whose value might<\/div>\n
enhanced by a set buyer for a motion picture.  Not grand things like Rosebud<\/div>\n
or a brick from The Yellow Brick Road or snippet of hair in Scarlet Ohara’s locket<\/div>\n
or a sweat drenched collar that was once around the neck of Lassie.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We collected things that might make movie more real like busted market <\/div>\n
tables or empty time worn crates for an alley scene in<\/div>\n
On The Waterfront or cages that could hold Marlon Brando\u2019s pigeons<\/div>\n
on a tenement roof of New York City or a farm wagon made useless by <\/div>\n
wood boring insects but possibly wonderful in a Steinbeck moviesscape.<\/div>\n
(word invented).<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Just things soon becoming dust.  But rentable this moment in time.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Some set buyers have shared our affectrion for things broken and busted.<\/div>\n
Not enough of them to make big profits.  Some years there are no profits<\/div>\n
at all.  Marjorie and I have spent half century buying these things at<\/div>\n
auction sales.  Friends ask \u2018what if you get robbed?\u2019  Unlikely.  Why would<\/div>\n
someone steal something that has no value? Or  small<\/div>\n
value as in round quart milk bottle complete with labelled cap from the 1930\u2019s<\/div>\n
valued at ten or twenty dollars. Or a fanning milll that will never clean grain again.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Market tables stollen a year ago.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Baskets stollen july 2025<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Long ago we were robbed big time.  Our house was emptied \u2026value drained. Back then<\/div>\n
I was reminded of a comment made to me by Evan Cruikshank in his Grade 12 history<\/div>\n
class.  \u201cNever be hostage to fortune\u201d.  The message was clear  Never let things own you.<\/div>\n
If you do and lose things the loss becomes anchor round your neck.   No more happy days.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So should our thief read this note we wish him or her well.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
But, for the life of me, I can\u2019t understand why you would want these things.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
postscript:  If someone drops  by and tries to sell you green market tables or Marjorie\u2019s basket<\/div>\n
collection you should note that Marjorie is not as charitable as I am.  <\/div>\n
give her a call.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I SUPPOSE IT WAS INEVITABLE\u2026ROBBERY alan skeoch july 21, 2025 I suppose it was inevitable that we would be robbed. too trusting. For the last sixty years we have been collecting things of little value to anyone. Things touched by a human hand and thereby lost their virginity.   Things bent and broken.  Things that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}