# $190 rock wrapped in twine, wtf is this real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645 "2015-09-11T03:44:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/1 "2015-09-11T03:44:48Z")
[![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/DC09QQe.png "Visited my boyfriend at his family") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/DC09QQe) 😕 What the actual… Huh, is this real? Why in the hell would someone buy this? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/2 "2015-09-11T04:23:54Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Why in the hell would someone buy this? The caption suggests the item in question is being sold in the Hamptons, which also answers your question. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/3 "2015-09-11T07:41:37Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > The caption suggests the item in question is being sold in the Hamptons, which also answers your question. [this refers to Notting Hill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUnvgKhWZdI) rather than the Hamptons but the point (and stereotype) still stands (warning, some slight NSFW language) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/4 "2015-09-11T09:43:27Z")
Just because it’s a commercial enterprise doesn’t mean that the money that is exchanged there is generated there. Both the rock-wrapper “artists” and the boutique owner are barely squeaking by (or, more likely, are indulged by a wealthy spouse). The people who live in the ornamental area where the shop is located belong to the class of people who can blow $190 on a rock because their money is generated in a lot of miserable places spread all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/5 "2015-09-11T10:31:25Z")
Because it’s a REALLY GOOD rock. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/6 "2015-09-11T12:27:44Z")
Oh, come on. It’s a little artsy-crafty tchotchke. Its value doesn’t come from its utility as a rock, it comes from how aesthetically pleasing you perceive it to be. Now the _price_ of the tchotchke is also a function of other things - like who made it and where it’s being sold - but calling it a “$190 rock wrapped in twine” is a bit like calling [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Homme_au_doigt) a “$141M pile of bronze.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/7 "2015-09-11T12:50:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Because it’s a REALLY GOOD rock. But it’s not even in a box! I burning your dog. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/8 "2015-09-11T12:51:17Z")
It’s the Hamptons - you’re not going to throw just any old rock from your glass house. The twine’s for grip. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/9 "2015-09-11T13:02:22Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But it’s not even in a box! > > . “Hey, Michelangelo, can you put that _Pieta_ in a box for me?” ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/10 "2015-09-11T13:28:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But it’s not even in a box! It is - it’s a boxed set with paper and scissors - believed to be cursed. Local legend has it that the first known purchaser stabbed themselves with the scissors, wrote a suicide note on the paper and chucked the rock at the paramedics. It took a fifth of bourbon to calm them down, thus becoming the traditional accompaniment when giving the set as a gift. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/11 "2015-09-11T13:38:44Z")
> [@zut](#): > > calling it a “$190 rock wrapped in twine” is a bit like calling [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Homme_au_doigt) a “$141M pile of bronze.” I completely agree… ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/12 "2015-09-11T14:25:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Because it’s a REALLY GOOD rock. Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around. /TMBG ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/13 "2015-09-11T14:28:06Z")
Maybe the maker of the rock thought, “Hey, we’re in the Hamptons. Tourists here will buy anything for any price.” and figured, what the hell. Just throw some twine around a pleasing looking rock and slap an almost $200 price tag on it, then see what sucker bites. Not like they put much material or work into for it to not be worth the minimal amount of effort. A+ for moxie. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/14 "2015-09-11T15:03:49Z")
That’s not twine. It’s rattan. Much classier. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/15 "2015-09-11T15:07:48Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around. > /TMBG _shakes my tiny fist_ (I wanted to say that. :D) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/16 "2015-09-11T15:16:12Z")
I see someone didn’t live through the Pet Rock phenomenon of the 1970s. But I don’t recall those costing this much though, not even adjusted for inflation. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/17 "2015-09-11T15:16:14Z")
> [@](#): > > _shakes my tiny fist_ But what’s the use of wondering, when you’re all alone? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/18 "2015-09-11T15:33:03Z")
Is it by some “name” artist, however small and local that name may be? ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/19 "2015-09-11T15:47:58Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > _shakes my tiny fist_ > (I wanted to say that. :D) Well, you were young and foolish then 🙂 I feel old and foolish now. > [@Chronos](#): > > But what’s the use of wondering, when you’re all alone? _coughs_ [“arguing”](http://tmbw.net/wiki/Lyrics:Lucky_Ball_%26_Chain) ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645/20 "2015-09-12T14:44:08Z")
I don’t believe that’s twine around the rock. It’s raffia. That makes it a craft, and therefore worth $100 times what it cost to make. Also, there’s probably a decorative knot on the other side. I mean, who puts the cost on the top of the rock? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/190-rock-wrapped-in-twine-wtf-is-this-real/730645.md?page=2)