These were the comic books my father made me throw out in 1969

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30. My grandmother threw out my father's Captain Marvel collection

...while he was away at college. He had every issue from Vol. 1 #1 and in pristine condition. He figures it would be worth around half a million dollars today.

The presumption of parental super-ownership extends to other things though. I had a car given to my by my grandparents when they upgraded their ride. They signed it over to me and I paid the taxes -- it was completely my property and my name was the only one on the title and registration. One night the water pump went out and I left it parked at a shopping mall with a covered parking lot, well lit and in walking distance of an auto parts store. I made arrangements with one of my friends to bring his tool and pick me up the next day to fix it. Made the mistake of telling my parents what was going on though. When I got up the next day it was parked in front of my house.

They hadn't had it towed, though, no, that would be too expensive. They used the spare key I had stupidly given them to drive it five minutes at a time, overheating, nearly 15 miles through the city to get it back in front of my rental house. When I confronted them about it they were completely unrepentant. By the morning it would no longer run at all so I had to pay to have it towed and fixed by a mechanic. To this day I cannot make them comprehend that they committed a fucking felony to make their point.