Wheat cue... GREAT FIND!!
- Thread starter Billiard Architect
- Start date
Tiddler said:
Gus or Barry?
WheatCues
Banned
Blackjack said:Here's a story about a bargain I got...
About 12 years ago I was closing up my room, and I found a cue laying on table 13 (all the way in the far back corner of my room). It had a plastic bridge head attached to the shaft. It was a Joss West with ebony points and ivory spears - a very nice Stroud - so I figured the owner would be sick when they realized that they forgot it or lost it. The guy that was back there that evening was short guy in his mid fifties playing by himself. I locked it up in the back office and waited for the owner to return and claim it. I put a note up on the bar that a cue was found, and if the owner identifies it - I'll return it.
2 weeks go by and the cue is still sitting in my office. I take out an ad in the El Paso Times Classifieds and I ask for the owner to call and identify the cue, and I will return it.
Well I get about 25 calls from the local smart asses trying to get a free cue. None of them could identify the cue. I got the same calls from everybody ... "Hey Dave, whaddya got? I'll buy it from you." I wasn't making no deals. So it stayed back there in the office.
After a while, I figured that the guy was just passing through town and forgot it - or he loved my room so much that he felt inclined to leave it there as a gift.
I used the cue once or twice - it hit really nice - and it looked and felt beautiful in my hands - but it was NOT mine, and I always felt kind of guilty whenever I screwed it together or showed it to somebody. I put it in a case and it stayed there.
I didn't want to sell it because I would have felt as if I had profited from somebody else's misfortune. I just had this feeling that if I did sell it, the rightful owner would come in the very next day looking to claim his cue. That would be my luck.
Two and a half years later, I am behind the bar and this guy comes in and asks me - "Hey - I know this is a long shot - but a few years ago I came in here and I forgot one of my cues... blah blah blah.. and I'm sure its pretty much a gonner, but I'm not from here so I was wondering..."
I smiled and asked him what the cue looked like - he described it right down to the most minute details - the points, and he described the inlays and rings to a tee. He told me he forgot it on one of the back tables and didn't realize it was missing until he got back home to Colorado.
I couldn't believe it.
I took him back to the office and you should have saw his face when he saw his cue - talk about a happy person - he grabbed me in a bear hug! He was very relieved and wanted to give me cash as a reward - which I refused. The look on the guy's face when he saw his cue was enough payment for me.
About a month later, I received a package unexpectedly. It was a very nice Schon - it was brand new, and wrapped around the cue in a rubber band was a note. It was a cue the guy had purchased to replace his lost Joss. It was a nice cue, but he didn't like it, but he figured I would. The note thanked me for holding on to his cue for so long and this cue was his way of showing his appreciation. Later, I sold that cue at a time when I really needed some extra cash. That was a pretty good deal.
I guess the lesson here is this:
For every bargain that you find in the pawn shops, there is possibly or probably some guy out there wondering where that cue is - or what ever happened to it. I have had some cues ripped off and I know what that feels like.
These days I find a lot of Sneaky Petes on the wall, blended in with other house cues. I keep all of them, and let people know that I have them in case the bartender gets any inquiries on lost or stolen cues. I'm not going to sell any of them, and I put out an instructional newsletter every month and if I have found anything, I list the cue in there as found merchandise.
I found one last week - so if anyone in Orlando is missing a cue, tell me where you lost it, identify it properly (cue maker and an accurate description) and I'll get it back in your hands immediately.
I just wanted to say that is got to be the best story I have heard yet about an owner being reunited with his sentimental invaluable property !!!
To see the overwhelming joy on his face when he saw his cue after accepting the fact it was gone forever is more rewarding than ANY amount of money that can be offered, becasue you can't put a price on that awesome feeling of actually making someone genuinely happy !!!
I live completely by Karma myself and I just wanted commend you on your principles and morals on doing the right thing by hanging on to it, and the nice gift you received in exchange for your personal convictions told you just how much that cue meant to him !!!
Recovering a lost/stolen cue is practically impossible... but does happen on occassion, and being in the business, it's always nice to hear some heartwarming stories of reunitement !!!
Thanks for sharing !!!!
- Eddie Wheat
THAT REEKS of integrity, honesty, and the highest moral standards. You are a POOL PLAYER? right? Great story!! Terrific ending. These are the things that come from and foster good Karma. Kind of reminds me of that 'golden rule' we learned b4 we were age 5 but seem to forget along the journey.Blackjack said:Here's a story about a bargain I got...
About 12 years ago I was closing up my room, and I found a cue laying on table 13 (all the way in the far back corner of my room). It had a plastic bridge head attached to the shaft. It was a Joss West with ebony points and ivory spears - a very nice Stroud - so I figured the owner would be sick when they realized that they forgot it or lost it. The guy that was back there that evening was short guy in his mid fifties playing by himself. I locked it up in the back office and waited for the owner to return and claim it. I put a note up on the bar that a cue was found, and if the owner identifies it - I'll return it.
2 weeks go by and the cue is still sitting in my office. I take out an ad in the El Paso Times Classifieds and I ask for the owner to call and identify the cue, and I will return it.
Well I get about 25 calls from the local smart asses trying to get a free cue. None of them could identify the cue. I got the same calls from everybody ... "Hey Dave, whaddya got? I'll buy it from you." I wasn't making no deals. So it stayed back there in the office.
After a while, I figured that the guy was just passing through town and forgot it - or he loved my room so much that he felt inclined to leave it there as a gift.
I used the cue once or twice - it hit really nice - and it looked and felt beautiful in my hands - but it was NOT mine, and I always felt kind of guilty whenever I screwed it together or showed it to somebody. I put it in a case and it stayed there.
I didn't want to sell it because I would have felt as if I had profited from somebody else's misfortune. I just had this feeling that if I did sell it, the rightful owner would come in the very next day looking to claim his cue. That would be my luck.
Two and a half years later, I am behind the bar and this guy comes in and asks me - "Hey - I know this is a long shot - but a few years ago I came in here and I forgot one of my cues... blah blah blah.. and I'm sure its pretty much a gonner, but I'm not from here so I was wondering..."
I smiled and asked him what the cue looked like - he described it right down to the most minute details - the points, and he described the inlays and rings to a tee. He told me he forgot it on one of the back tables and didn't realize it was missing until he got back home to Colorado.
I couldn't believe it.
I took him back to the office and you should have saw his face when he saw his cue - talk about a happy person - he grabbed me in a bear hug! He was very relieved and wanted to give me cash as a reward - which I refused. The look on the guy's face when he saw his cue was enough payment for me.
About a month later, I received a package unexpectedly. It was a very nice Schon - it was brand new, and wrapped around the cue in a rubber band was a note. It was a cue the guy had purchased to replace his lost Joss. It was a nice cue, but he didn't like it, but he figured I would. The note thanked me for holding on to his cue for so long and this cue was his way of showing his appreciation. Later, I sold that cue at a time when I really needed some extra cash. That was a pretty good deal.
I guess the lesson here is this:
For every bargain that you find in the pawn shops, there is possibly or probably some guy out there wondering where that cue is - or what ever happened to it. I have had some cues ripped off and I know what that feels like.
These days I find a lot of Sneaky Petes on the wall, blended in with other house cues. I keep all of them, and let people know that I have them in case the bartender gets any inquiries on lost or stolen cues. I'm not going to sell any of them, and I put out an instructional newsletter every month and if I have found anything, I list the cue in there as found merchandise.
I found one last week - so if anyone in Orlando is missing a cue, tell me where you lost it, identify it properly (cue maker and an accurate description) and I'll get it back in your hands immediately.
Thanks Blackjack for the actions and the story.
3railkick/Bill