Worthless Or Priceless?

It was the best cherry-cola that I ever had. It’s the aftertaste now that’s incredibly bad. It was 1953, at the corner Five and Dime. I still think it might have been some sort of crime. I had saved enough money from mowing some yards, to buy one more pack of Topps Baseball Cards. As I peeled back the wrapper, anticipation grew, hoping to find an all-star, maybe two. But, treasure doesn’t always appear like one thinks. “Nothing” I yelled out, “This totally stinks.” Some rookie named Mantle was all that I found. “Fat chance of him ever sticking around.” My buddy there with me was a big Yankees fan, a sucker, I thought, for my ingenious plan. With considerable effort, I convinced him to swap, my “worthless” card for his “priceless” pop. The bottle’s still worth a nickel at the store, The “Mick”? I’d guess, just a little bit more. It sits on my shelf, like a trophy I earned, A reminder to me of a lesson once learned. Note: The 1952 Rookie Mickey Mantle card has been valued at over $50,000 by some price guides. – Wow! I have lots of old baseball cards I collected as a kid, but not this one. I wrote this as I watched an old-timer tell a shop-owner about one that “got-away.”