# One Irreplaceable Object **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178 "2002-04-23T18:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/1 "2002-04-23T18:01:11Z")
After reading **Jonathan Chance** ’s thread in the Pit about his recent burglary, (I’d link to it, but my system seems to be having issues) I got to thinking. If your house were burning down and you could grab only one object (assuming all people and pets were safe), what would it be? I asked Mr Winnie this question, and, at first, he responded with the awfully unromantic “my computer”. To which I retorted that, if his data is that important to him, he’d better start backing it up. After that realization, he amended his choice to an heirloom ring that had belonged to his great-grandfather. Mine was similar. On my wedding day, my mother gave me a pendant she had had made for me. Its components were my great-grandmother’s wedding ring, my grandmother’s wedding ring, and her own original wedding ring (she’s since upgraded), with a heart-shaped diamond that my dad gave her for their anniversary one year. The sentiment of it still makes me cry from time to time, and I would never willingly part with it. So, what ONE object would you take from a burning building? No runner-up object, no honorable mentions - you can only grab one thing. What would it be, and why? ---
**Author:** ![ejrn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@ejrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ejrn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/2 "2002-04-23T18:35:34Z")
I’d probably go for the box of photos and my son’s beloved stuffed bunny. There is one item that would be truly irreplacable for me though. It’s a mirror. Remember the kind of mirror that doctors used to wear on a strap around their forehead? It’s about 3 inches in diameter and has a hole in the middle. This was my father’s - he died when I was a baby. My mother used it for decades to put her make-up on and, now that she has gone , it has finally become mine. The best make-up mirror ever and tons of sentimental value. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/3 "2002-04-23T19:52:08Z")
Since my speakers are too damn heavy (perhaps lending us the reason their still mine…) I’d probably choose the hollow body guitar. That or the hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![EVO95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@EVO95](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EVO95)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/4 "2002-04-23T20:00:51Z")
My stuffed moose. ---
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/5 "2002-04-23T20:07:13Z")
C’mon, **JC** - back up your hard drive! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/6 "2002-04-23T20:38:37Z")
If a pile of things count, I’d take the pile of teddy bears that are on my bed - they all have a lot of sentimental value (they’re all in the same area, I can grab them all pretty quickly). If I can grab only one, it would be my Doux-doux, a lamb that I’ve had since I was born (given to me by my great-aunt). She’s exactly my age, and has seen more of my smiles and tears than any other person or object in my life. I’ve already told my SO and family, even though it’s a long-way eventuallity, that I want her buried with me, even. I couldn’t bear to lose her. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![lovelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@lovelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/7 "2002-04-23T21:45:20Z")
If beasties count, I’d grab my kitty, Gimp. If they don’t count, I’d probably make a run for the bookshelf. There are some books that I have that are of sentimental value. ---
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/8 "2002-04-23T22:06:35Z")
We’re assuming that all people and pets are safe. ---
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/9 "2002-04-23T22:37:41Z")
nothing. what a better way to start over? ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/10 "2002-04-23T23:01:33Z")
I’d grab my SO, but if he was busy grabbing his one piece of loot, and it wasn’t me, I’d run back and grab all my travel photos. So much time, money and memories went into some of them, and they are truly irreplaceable. To make this easier, all negatives are in one easy-to-get-to place, and I’ll just grab them and run. Though the last time one of these threads came up, I was planning on putting those negatives into a safe, I think… Obviously I didn’t get up off my butt to do so, but they are still the most irreplaceable thing I have, after my SO. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/11 "2002-04-24T00:23:53Z")
Well the last time my building was on fire the only thing I thought to grab as I went out was my pants which I then put on. But if I knew I had a little bit more time I would grab my photo collection. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/12 "2002-04-24T00:47:15Z")
[Dad’s watch](http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/watches/seiko.html). Or the drawer that has all three of his watches. The watch as a thing can be replaced (in fact, I have two others just like it); but_this_ one and the others in the drawer were worn by dad and therefore have a value that cannot be replaced. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/13 "2002-04-24T00:55:55Z")
I would grab the folder that contains my insurance policy, birth certificates, stocks and bonds, and blackmail photos of UncleBeer in a plaid tutu. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/14 "2002-04-24T01:03:32Z")
Ten bucks and a bottle of mead for the photo. A BIG bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/15 "2002-04-24T01:09:40Z")
When the apartment adjoining ours (in the building my husband and I lived in a few years ago) caught on fire, we threw on clothes, grabbed wallets, cell phones, keys, and jackets, and got the ferrets’ cage outside. We were pretty sure that our apartment wouldn’t burn up (and there wasn’t any damage at all); if we thought there might be, I’d probably go for the negatives of our wedding photos. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/16 "2002-04-24T08:20:06Z")
Yeah, probably photographs is the first thing I’d grab. Irreplaceable. The rest is all replacable - save a few rather obscure CD’s. I don’t really have a lot of stuff with sentimental value, I guess. My computer’s hard disk would be pretty good to tag along, too. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/17 "2002-04-24T20:13:15Z")
Definitely my computer, since it’s got all my files, photos, music, and whatnot. Fortunately, since it’s an iMac, I can use the handle to lug it toot sweet. 🙂 (I’d back up the data, but I can’t afford a CD-RW right now. Frazzinrazzin Bush II recession…) ---
**Author:** ![IMWOMANHERE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@IMWOMANHERE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMWOMANHERE)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-irreplaceable-object/105178/18 "2002-04-25T05:33:02Z")
Photos,and the Harley-Davidson.