I could only shake my head...

On Saturday, I went to the Tulsa Flea Market which was held at the Rose Bowl along old Route 66. I looked for old cameras, old photos, and a few other odds and ends. The Rose Bowl is smaller than the usual venue at the Fair Ground, so I wouldn't expect it to be a long-term substitute. Regardless, it's an interesting building, more than a bit worn down by time.

Sure enough, I found a table with some old cameras. They were beyond being merely dusty. They were encrusted in dirt, like something stored in a garage next to the lawn mower and weed eater for many years. So of course, I found something of interest!

Maybe it's a kind of bad karma. Maybe I did something bad in a previous life, and I get to be tormented in this one. But lying there on the table was another Konica Auto S2, filthy enough that with the addition of a little water, it could sprout grass seed from all the caked on dirt. I looked through the viewfinder, but in all honesty, I could see better with a thumb stuck in my eye. All the parts were there, but the film advance wouldn't budge. Sigh. Another dead camera.

The price tag said $42.50!

Are these people insane? Is there some lucrative broken camera market that I don't know about? I offered $10 but the seller wouldn't consider it! I wouldn't make an offer unless I had another camera for parts, and I do. Maybe it was the Rose Bowl. Maybe it was the proximity to Route 66. Maybe this woman just tumbled off the turnip truck from the planet Trafalmadore where turnips are more precious than diamonds and a broken camera is priceless. She acted as if I'd spit on her shoes. Maybe next time I will. It could be the highest compliment on her planet.