# It Fell Off The Back Of A Truck! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 25, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck/677144 "2013-12-25T11:13:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck/677144/41 "2013-12-27T22:54:45Z")
> [@Riga\_Marole](#): > > I don’t mind buying second hand (or things from uncertain origins if the price is right) but buying second hand electrical items is just asking for disappointment. It wasn’t second-hand, in the traditional sense. It was brand new, with the role of the wholesaler taken by the Chicago Outfit. Uncle Carmie’s wife kept him on the straight and narrow as best she could, not allowing his cousin, Wee Willie, into her house, but their kids got into the family business as crooked cops. > [@Riga\_Marole](#): > > An item that has _ **fallen off the back of a truck** _ is fair booty. If it is lying on the ground with no indication of its owner, then it comes within the law known as _finders keepers, losers weepers_. I think in maritime law that would make it “flotsam,” with the same legal status but one which sounds more adult. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Riga\_Marole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riga_marole/32/7316_2.png) [@Riga\_Marole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riga_Marole)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck/677144/42 "2013-12-28T06:57:53Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > My wife’s Russian immigrant grandparents lived in the Maxwell Street area, on 14th, and had a little restaurant from, say, 1914-`1927. They sold solid cheap food, soup and black bread, no booze, etc., but might have had a card game going in back…Papa was always trying to get Mama to give him the hidden cash she kept putting away so he could buy into the game, but she didn’t, and, the story is, they had enough saved to buy a house on w. 42nd st near Archer in the late 20’s. That’s where I went to visit my college girlfriend in the early '60’s, and Mama was still a vigorous older lady who insisted, after she saw me, that I should have a tumbler of whiskey. I had been coached, so I refused politely the first three times and finally accepted a shot. Great lady, wonderful family. > > I did know a man, once, in Indiana, who not only sold goods that came out of the back of a truck, he drove the stolen car that was rigged with a flasher to stop the trucker on rte 6 for a safety stop. The driver went into the trunk of the car, the truck went to a local isolated barn where it was emptied. The next night, it would be driven out to the local truck stop and dropped in the yard. No one was ever hurt. The driver in the trunk was rescued when someone would call in an anonymous tip. > > They knocked off 5 or 6 trucks and sold tons of clothes and electronics before they got tracked and raided, most of the real criminals slipped away and off to somewhere safe until the shouting died down. The property owner, who didn’t know a damned thing about the use of the barn, took the biggest fall. A beautiful story! … the first part anyway. I know the discomfort of the Slavik offer of drink - I met my wife in her home town in Slovakia. Whenever we go back to visit I have that dreaded welcome when I have no choice but to drink “just one” slivovica, then the mandatory second one _“for the other leg”_! And now that you’ve allready been tricked into drinking two, here’s another … and another … and … I love Slovaks but … :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Riga\_Marole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riga_marole/32/7316_2.png) [@Riga\_Marole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riga_Marole)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck/677144/43 "2013-12-28T07:06:17Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Yes, off Netflix. Here is the trailer: > > [http://vimeo.com/33013238](http://vimeo.com/33013238) Wow! I’d love to see the whole thing! You know, I forgot about the guys grabbing your arm and “forcing” you to buy something you don’t really want. It’s what I really hate about India and West Africa. OK. So I don’t know very much about Netfix. Is it a pay-first thing or free like YouTube? ---
**Author:** ![Riga\_Marole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riga_marole/32/7316_2.png) [@Riga\_Marole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riga_Marole)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck/677144/44 "2013-12-28T07:11:08Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > It wasn’t second-hand, in the traditional sense. It was brand new, with the role of the wholesaler taken by the Chicago Outfit. Uncle Carmie’s wife kept him on the straight and narrow as best she could, not allowing his cousin, Wee Willie, into her house, but their kids got into the family business as crooked cops. Jesus! You guys have some really good stories! There should be a thread dedicated to personal stories on the forum. > [@dropzone](#): > > I think in maritime law that would make it “flotsam,” with the same legal status but one which sounds more adult. 😉 I prefer using the catch-all expression _ **“Force Majeure”** _. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck/677144.md?page=2)