Junk... or Treasure?

Lots of stories floating around about people finding priceless treasures buried in attics or for “pennies” at yard sales. And how pleased they were for having been able to snatch this priceless item out from under the nose of the seller, who was oblivious to the "real" value of what he or she was selling. It has always bothered me a little; I guess because of the element of deception that is involved. I don’t know. maybe not. Then again, there is the other side of the coin: the buyer who is deceived by an unscrupulous seller, which happens all the time. Maybe it balances out in the scheme of things. At any rate, I enjoy browsing through junk/thrift stores, and I am very thankful we have our very own thrift store in town. It provides food for people who are in need with the money it makes selling the stuff people donate. I go in there about once a month, maybe, to see if there is anything interesting and to look at the books that come in. That’s really my main interest--books. A couple of months before my sister’s birthday, which is at the end of March, I went into the thrift store, and there, sitting among all the used dishes and coffee mugs and old glasses, was this relish tray. It looked very much like a relish tray that might have come from the Blue Ridge Pottery. My mother has been collecting this style of dinnerware for years, and my sister has begun collecting it as well, so I am fairly familiar with what it looks like. I felt a thrill like an electric shock go through me as I picked it up and turned it over to verify that it was indeed a piece of Blue Ridge Pottery and the thrift store had marked it at $2.00, or maybe it was $2.50. I had no idea how much it was really worth, but I hesitated not a second in buying it. And off it went to my sister for her birthday, and she was thrilled to get it, too. And no, I did not go back to the thrift store and say.... “you know I bought something here the other day for $2.50 that I have found for sale on the internet ranging from $30 to $75 and even more....”