The heavens must have truly opened up for one lucky thrift store customer who thought he was just purchasing a cheap vase, however, turned out to score quite the Mayan jackpot. What a magnanimous day for cheap thrills and store binges.
According to reports, it all began when an unidentified buyer stumbled upon a vase for $3.99 at a Maryland thrift store. It was reported that the vase resembled an ancient relic, but who cares if it was old? All that mattered was that it was cheap. The unsuspecting individual purchased the artefact, probably for the sole purpose of adding it to their already bulging collection of thrift store trinkets.
However, little did they know that they had just bought a piece of ancient Mayan history worth thousands of dollars. Well, aren’t they lucky? The vase in question dates back nearly 2,000 years and could be from the Mayan civilization – oh how marvellous.
But, who really cares? I mean, what does the buyer plan to do with it? Put it on their shelf at home and show off their uncanny ability to find overpriced second-hand items? Great, let’s put our hands together and congratulate them.
In all honesty, it’s just another reminder that the only thing that really matters are material possessions, and if we can get our hands on a rare antiquity better yet. It’s a perfect depiction of how our society is devaluing ancient history, and objectifying the past to make a profit. But why do we care, right? It’s all about the money.
The real question though is, why spend all that time and effort to piece together the vase’s history? Does it really matter when the ultimate goal is always to profit from it? Why not just sell it to the highest bidder and add the money to the stack of wealth one has already accumulated? Let’s just hope that the buyer will donate the money or get rid of the wretched vase. In the end, it’s just another selfish act that better aligns with greed and capitalism than academic institutions trying to preserve ancient history.
So, the next time you’re in the mood to go thrift store digging, always remember that you may just find a Mayan artefact worth thousands of dollars. But who cares if it’s ancient, priceless or represents a civilization that has long since vanished? The only thing that truly matters is, of course, the amount of profit you can make.
