Helaine asked if we could watch Antiques Roadshow tonight. AR has been on PBS for eight seasons, though it seems longer.
You know the show. People bring tchotchkes in from home. Officious experts look them over and then appraise them. Seemingly everything is worth a fortune.
I want to hear one expert say, “What a piece of garbage. I hope you didn’t go to any trouble saving this crap.” They never do. “Your parents were playing a joke on you when they left you this.”
Paintings, China, jewelery, ukuleles all are worth thousands… maybe tens of thousands of dollars. The people are flabbergasted. “I had no idea,” said one.
I am a skeptic. I know nothing at all about antiques, but a lot about people. When their business benefits by higher valuations can you really trust these appraisers?
I’m waiting for the first person hear the dollar figure, turn to the person who gave it and say, “Can I get that in cash?”
My wife and I love to scoff at the people on that show. Just the other day our conversation all but mirrored your post.
“Oh, I had no idea it was worth anything,” says the woman who clearly spent much time, effort and expense to schlep her oversize piece of pseudo-antique furniture across town. LOL!