Well, maybe someone will read this and not make the mistake I did. I just couldn't, in good conscience, fork out $$ for another gun this year. Christmas will soon be here, and I've got to start thinking about things for the kids. So I went through my vast (ha! ha!) gun collection and picked a candidate for trade bait. I had to decide which gun I wanted LESS than that 444. Having picked out one that, I felt, would be a VERY favorable trade, I rushed down to the pawn shop with my sacrificial offering. I brought 4 boxes of ammo as gravy. The pawn shop owner scoffed at my gun and indicated he would need $$ on top of it. I was infuriated. This trade would have heavily favored mister pawn guy, but he, knowing of my desire for the Marlin felt he could extract a few more greenbacks from my wallet.
My pride urged me to tell the pawn geek to stick his 444 up his hinder parts sideways, but I only thought the thought and then proceeded to see if he would dicker. Nope, he was firm. So I packed up my firearm and gave him a glance that said what I was thinking and walked out the door.
But the thought of that Marlin haunted me the rest of the day, and I decided that even with the money he was asking, I would still be getting a good deal. So off I went with the $$ and gun in hand. I plunked the gun on his counter and proclaimed that I was ready to do the deal. He gave me a triumphant big ___-eating grin and said, "Someone came in 30 minutes after you and took the Marlin." If pawn geek had known what I was thinking THIS time, he may have wished he had that 444 in his hands to defend himself.
So in the end, greed (his) and pride (mine) kept me from having a nice 444 Marlin in my gun cabinet tonight. I'm still seething, but hopefully writing this will help me get over it.
