While hunting for things, I sometimes come across strange out-of-place items. One time at the Goodwill in Somerville, an employee pushed out a bin of fresh merchandise.

This bin came from the downtown sorting site and had donations from all over eastern Mass mixed into it. A few dealers walked over and peered into the big blue bin. At the bottom was a bunch of military stuff.

One customer reached in and pulled out a Vietnam era Mk 2 hand grenade. It still had the pin and the spoon in it and had letter stencilled across the pineapple shell. The bottom wasn’t hollowed-out like the duds. This was still live.

The customer tossed it into the air a few times exclaiming how heavy it was. It was heavier than the inert ones because it still contained a few ounces of TNT. He was walking around with it in his hand as I ran to the other end of the building and called the Somerville Police. The nice lady took my call and at the end asked my name. I told her ‘Grenade’. A cop showed up in minutes and took the live grenade.

The young cop was rather casual about it. I asked him if it was live and he said ‘Yup’. After the excitement, I went back and got some of the clothing and gear that was left in the bin and sold it later on eBay.

Bob Adams has been in Somerville 27 years but was a frequent visitor prior to moving here. He worked as a jeweler in a few shops in his younger years, owned his own shop for a bit, sold real estate for 10 years and is always hunting for his next treasure. He has been an antique and collectibles dealer for 30 years. He can be reached at 27winter@gmail.com.