Somebody stole our artichokes. They stripped eight of them off the plant in our front yard.

I don't care much about the actual artichokes. I can afford to buy artichokes. I do care that somebody stole them; I was looking forward to eating the thing that I grew; and that they didn't even leave us any edible ones.

If they had asked, I would gladly have given them some. I hope they took them because they were hungry, and not just because they were easy to steal. I wish they had asked.