What did you have for dinner last night? Spaghetti with homemade sauce? Maybe a steak? Burgers or chicken on the grille? Did you have enough? My family did. There are a lot of families in this country that won’t have enough to eat tonight. Jenny & I donate a portion of our income, and our time, to several charities. One of Jenny’s favorites is the New Hampshire Food Bank in Manchester, NH. This is an organization that distributes food to needy families in the Manchester area. Their goal is simple and immensely honorable… there are hungry kids in the area, let’s feed them.

Something happened to me over this past weekend and I want to share the story. Jenny, Rooster, and I went on our bi-annual trek to the Brimfield, Massachusetts Antique Shows. While getting ready Thursday night I tossed a half dozen blank white poker and an ultra fine point “Sharpie” marker into my pack. I thought if I saw a celebrity I would get an autograph on a chip, sell the chip on eBay, and donate the money to the NH Food Bank.

I didn’t see any celebrities until Saturday afternoon. A little after noon I was walking a row in one of the fields and came across a taping of a TV show. Harry Rinker was in Brimfield taping a few segments for his collectibles show that airs on the HGTV channel. Cool! Harry Rinker is a famous personality in the antiques and collectibles field. He has a TV show, writes a regular column that appears in several of the trade magazines, even has had a couple of books on collectibles published. I thought, “Wow, this is perfect.” I’d ask him to autograph a few chips and make a few dollars for the Food Bank. I even had a thought of writing a story for the CC&TN on meeting Harry at Brimfield and having him autograph the chips.

So, I politely and quietly stood behind the barriers and waited for the taping to wrap up. One of Harry’s “Production Assistants” (read that as “flunky”, and yes, the sarcasm starts here) asked me what I wanted. I introduced myself, and gave him a quick rundown of what I wanted. He went over to Harry and they had a “conference”. (Important people do this a lot. They don’t talk, they “conference”.) Harry then yelled over to me, “What do you want?” I responded, “Hi Mr. Rinker, I just want an autograph for charity, help feed some hungry kids.” Harry ignored me. It was very hot Saturday. He had to go sit in his air conditioned SUV between scenes. (No kidding, he actually did that. What a wus!) After all, as yet another one of his flunkies told me, the man is 62 years old. (I guess being a TV celebrity can be strenuous.) A few minutes later another of his flunkies brought me a promotional photo of Harry and told me that Harry would autograph it for me if I waited. What the hell, I waited.

Ten minutes later Harry emerged from his SUV and walked over to me. I offered a handshake, which he reluctantly accepted. (I’ve had firmer handshakes with 90 year old grandmothers.) I then gave him my pitch, and offered the chips and “Sharpie”, which I had ready. Harry then gave me a two-minute explanation as to why he couldn’t sign the chips until after the taping was done. I implored him to sign the chips, “Come on Mr. Rinker, it’s for hungry kids, it will only take a minute.” He said, “NO! I have a job to do and it’s important.” He then turned his back on me and walked away.

You know what’s so ironic about this whole fiasco? This clown spent more time and effort essentially telling me to get lost than he would have just signing the chips! Think about this for a minute. My request wasn’t even hard. Sign your name on this poker chip and you can help feed a hungry little kid. My God! Harry Rinker refused! What kind of man refused to help feed kids?! (I asked my Dad this question. He smiled at me and told me there is no such thing as a man who refuses to help feed kids.)

What am I going to do? Write a nasty letter to HGTV? Write nasty letters to the sponsors? Write to his publisher? No. Frankly, that would require more time and effort then Harry Rinker is worth. I’d rather (and will) spend the time volunteering at the Food Bank. I just couldn’t let this go with out telling somebody. So, that’s my story. I urge you to boycott anything connected to Harry Rinker. I will no longer watch his show, or read any antiques magazine that includes his column. I will never buy any of his books. Will this make a difference? Probably not, but it will make me feel better.

Harry Rinker… you are a pompous, ignorant popinjay. You could, but would not, take two minutes to help feed some hungry kids. I wish you no ill will; in fact, I wish you nothing at all. You are nothing.