I face a moral dilemma, and come out of it pretty well, all the way around

The set of old gas lamps - these have been in my family for years. I have no idea what they are.

The glass just keeps rolling in. I can scarcely believe it. This is turning out to be one of the best collecting months I have ever had. Went on over to the flea market today to look around, as usual. Saw a Glasbake bundt pan, but let it be. I really don't want to start collecting that too. Plus it had a couple of bubbles in it, and wasn't etched. I also saw a clear bubble glass plate, but I have bought too much crystal lately. I love the blue though.

Then I saw it. I have a set of old gas lamps that were converted to electricity that have been passed down in our family. I have heard that they are worth money, but would never part with them. A woman there had one that matched my set. The reason this was exciting is that my sister Cindy wanted one of the set, but I wouldn't break the set, so she let me have both of them. This was in the wake of some bad blood between us, because I was promised a set of my grandmother's china, but she took it, and refused to let it go. So I thought I could buy this one, use it with one of the set, and let her have one of the family lamps. This was the problem. The woman wanted $20 for it, and she also had a lovely monax "American Sweetheart" chop plate that I wanted for $15. I had $24 in my pocket.

After asking about the chop plate, I told the woman she was really testing me. As I resignedly peeled off a twenty to pay for the lamp, I explained about the family story, and about how I collect Depression Glass. I told her although I loved the plate, I thought $20 was pretty cheap to help patch up some bad blood. I promise, hand to God, I was not telling her this to try to work a deal. I told her because I thought she might find the story of the lamp interesting.

She was a really sweet woman though, and sold me the chop plate for $9 (it is valued at $15 in my old book), and the lamp for $15. I was really surprised, and felt a little guilty, but I don't know how much she had in them, so I am hoping she still made money. If I had been trying to work a deal, I would have felt bad, but since I hadn't been pulling anything, I gave her all my money, thanked her profusely, and left feeling pretty damn good.