TV thief

At the beginning of our marriage, we had very little money. We lived without a television or radio.

One day, my husband picked up a small black-and-white TV that had been thrown away outside. I was excited. Sure enough, it had a picture, but no sound. Whenever I was bored, I would stare at the screen and imagine the sound. One day, we were lucky enough to find another TV that was about the same size. Rain was pouring out of the screen, but there was sound. We put them side by side and watched with a towel over the rain pouring screen.

We had some unexpected money. We bought a small Sony television and threw away the broken one. I was enjoying my new purchase, but it lasted less than a week before a thief stole it. My neighbor told me that a man across the street, who had bought the TV and was watching us come home, stole it while we were away. We couldn't take any action for fear of being harmed if we touched him wrongly. He was a drug addict who would do anything to get money to buy drugs. 

We didn't have enough money to buy a TV, but even if we did, the thieves would probably take it again, so we regretted that we threw away the broken TV that made only sound and only showed a screen. Children were born. We lived without a TV until they were in elementary school.

Every year, we went to my father-in-laws' house at the end of the year with a plane ticket sent by him, who lives in LA. Upon arrival, the children were glued to the TV and refused to move. When the father-in-law saw this, he clicked his tongue and said 

“Living without a TV is not only good for their education. They need to see the world through their eyes, so I'll buy it.”

“If you give me money, we'll go back to New York and buy it.”

“No, no. If I give you money, you won't buy it. I'll buy it for you here, and you can take it with you.”

My father-in-law bought a big Sanyo TV and put it on the plane. 

When we came home from LA, the door was open and the house was in chaos. Since there was nothing for the thief to steal in the house, he drank the beer in the refrigerator and threw down all the furniture in his anger. My family of four struggled to keep our new TV safe for fear of having it stolen. During the crime wave of the 80s, the neighborhood changed and the thieves disappeared.

Every time my son take the dog out, The dog knows well the psychology of my younger son.The dog looked at him with an expression like ‘Do you want to take this?’, so I stopped and there was a TV with a thin body and a large screen with a note saying ‘Take it’, so I pick it up.

“It’s pretty good. “It’s as good as new.”

In my family, when something new comes into the house, we don't ask, “Did you buy it?” we ask, “Where did you find it? This is because we live on discarded IKEA furniture lying around the house.