This was a sign I saw on the way to work.  It’s on a pawn shop display:

We buy broken gold

I’ve seen this sign before but for some reason, on this particular morning, it touched my heart, to the point of tears.  It was a particularly tricky part of the daily commute, so I had to buck up and make it in the rest of the way without thinking about it.

But the impact disturbed me.  I have dealt with irrational feelings – my own and those of others’ – and I really don’t like not knowing the underlying causes for irrational things.  I don’t have to control things; just knowing why something happens is sometimes enough for me.

But these four words rang throughout the morning in my head and heart, like what I’d imagine a .22 caliber bullet would do when shot into a small hollow enclosed space.

We buy broken gold

Then it hit me, like said bullet, and the wound was deep and swift.

The phrase “broken gold”, in its most technical format, means anything gold that has been broken or stripped down.  Lockets, rings, decorative charms, etc.  Not on its own anything significant.

But examine the phrase more closely as well as the original item.

Each of the broken items were not created broken.  They were created anew, fresh, and with the intent of being something hopefully special for someone.

A wedding ring, with vows to stretch through the end of a lifetime

A congratulatory gift, to celebrate completion of a hard-earned achievement

A family heirloom, with a history that stretches back generations

But now, over time, through intent, neglect, theft, or accident, these items – and associations – are what they are advertised to be:

Broken gold

These items have meaning in someone’s lives.  If the meaning still exists, then why is the item broken and discarded?  This suggests theft.  If the meaning no longer exists, then why is the item broken and discarded?  This suggests theft of a different nature – theft of time and dreams.  Both are heartbreaking in their own way.

Then there’s the first bit of the phrase, “we buy”.  This is probably the nail in the coffin here, and what was the core of my reaction.

Wherever there is disorder, chaos, and broken dreams, there will be someone around who is willing to profit off this.

This comes from first-hand experience.

It’s never easy to watch ones’ family belongings packed up into little boxes, sectioned off into separate lots, and sold at auction.  More difficult to do so, knowing that it’s a last-ditch attempt to try to hold a family together due to a myriad of horrible financial and inter-personal decisions.

Most difficult to make that phone call overseas to say, “hon, we didn’t make a profit off the sale”.

We buy broken gold

Yep, it’s a deep and meaningful phrase.  Hard to believe all this can be hidden inside of four simple words.

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