By participating in any government surplus auction, any person, one way or another, is actually trying to buy a pig in a poke – and winning can turn out to be either incredible luck or a complete failure that you will be ashamed to even remember for many years. Even if you have a good sense of self-irony.
The story that we offer to you today, from the user u/ourmanflint1, happened many years ago, when the Internet didn’t exist yet, and our hero couldn’t simply google what he was buying at the auction. However, this kind of “fog of war” is what actually gives the story its unique flavor – so let’s read on together!
More info: Reddit
This story happened many years ago, when the author was 13 years old and very fond of photography
Image credits: dn290383sas / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The teen’s dearest wish was to have his own darkroom, so he put all his efforts into finding something like that
Image credits: ourmanflint1
Image credits: mego-studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author’s elder brother once suggested he place a bid for a “portable darkroom” at a government surplus auction
Image credits: ourmanflint1
Image credits: user18448585 / Freepik (not the actual photo)
So the boy did – and he received a letter declaring his win soon after
Image credits: ourmanflint1
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The price was $80, and the lot was located somewhere near San Diego, so the boys asked their friend to give them a ride
Image credits: ourmanflint1
Image generated by Bored Panda using ChatGPT
It turned out the purchase was a huge old army trailer, which the friend’s truck had absolutely no chance of towing
Image credits: ourmanflint1
The author left his hapless purchase there, but the military guys then towed it straight to his driveway, thus making him the common laughingstock
This story happened many years ago, when the Original Poster (OP) was a 13-year-old boy who desperately dreamed of becoming a photographer and setting up his own darkroom. But the equipment for it was really expensive, so the teen had to just rent it in photo studios. Then another solution was suggested by his older brother.
He was two years older, a typical tech geek, and often bought all sorts of interesting technical devices at government surplus auctions for absolutely ridiculous prices. One fine day, the bro showed our hero an ad where a “portable darkroom” was being sold – for only $80! Well, the OP applied for the bid and, after some time, received a letter that he had won!
The problem was that the lot won was in San Diego, and it was necessary to get there at least. They agreed with some guy called Lance – a shady dude, who the older bro sometimes worked for – and he gave them a ride in his truck. But then it turned out that the lot was on a Marine base, was made around the middle of the last century, and back then people had completely different ideas about “portability.”
Long story short, the author’s purchase turned out to be a huge old trailer full of broken photography equipment – but they couldn’t even move it from its place. Not even with Lance’s truck. Our heroes returned home empty-handed, but that was not the end at all. After a while, some military guy towed the trailer up to the OP’s house and left it right there on the driveway.
For weeks, the author became the laughingstock of the neighborhood, and his family too, until he sold the relic of a bygone era to some hippie for just fifty bucks. That was the happy end to his dreams of a darkroom – although relatives sometimes, even after almost half a century, remember this “dinosaur” and start giggling inevitably.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Well, the word “portable” itself has really changed in recent decades – so my grandpa, who was a communications guy during World War II and laid telephone lines with long coil wires and telephone equipment in bulky boxes, by the end of his life in the late ’90s, never came to terms with the fact that those “mobile phones” were too small for him.
On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that our hero got a bit cheap by missing out on his surprise purchase for just $50 – he should’ve kept it and sold it later, when it would’ve become completely vintage. In the end, we managed to find several ads where similar “portable darkrooms” of the military type – and not even on wheels – were being sold on eBay for a couple of thousand dollars.
However, people in the comments still noted that our hero got off pretty well, getting free shipping and managing to get $50 back from the $80 he spent – and he didn’t even pay any abandonment fee. Other responders noted that the military in California usually only puts things that are worn out and outdated beyond belief up for surplus auction.
The author himself recalls in one of the comments that this story was one of the wonderful memories from his carefree childhood, when trees were big, the world was warm and beautiful, and an old army trailer blocking the driveway of his parents’ house was his main problem in life. So what similar things can you, our dear readers, recall from your teen years?
People in the comments enjoyed the story and also noted that selling it for $50 after getting free shipping was actually not a bad deal
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