what can I get for this post?
The youngster's school is private. It's a Catholic school and it's small. Unlike other small private schools, the tuition is a lot, but it doesn't rival small college tuition. I have heard the numbers for some snooty private schools in J'ville and no....we aren't paying that kind of money. To make up the difference though, there are fund raisers...and there are a ton of them...and being involved in them isn't optional.
One that is mandatory (you have to contribute a minimum of 7 hours of time to it in some capacity) is an annual auction. It's their biggest money maker of the year, and is apparently (little did I know) a major thing on the Saint Augustine local social calendar. As a parent, you are expected to either work at the auction or attend. Since we got all our required hours going around and begging businesses for stuff to auction off, we didn't have to work the auction, so we attended.
I've never been to an auction of any kind before. What an education. First there's just trying to keep up with the fast talking auctioneer, which requires a lot of focus and caution. Then there's watching the price fall and rise. He starts at the "value" of the item, which nobody's going to jump on, and works down until someone bites, and then works back up. So, for example, if he has a vacation package that's supposed to be worth $2000, he starts at $2000. Nobody bites. Everyone's waiting to see how low it'll go before someone else bites, so he asks $1500, then $1000, then $800, then $500. Finally, at $200, someone raises this paddle thing with their number (everyone gets their own number) on it to signal a bid. Then everyone else says...it's worth $2000 and it's only at $200, I'll go higher than that...and the bidding process begins, paddles go up in a constant stream of auctioneer verbage, pushing the price back up, in some cases more than where the guy started. It was interesting to watch.
Like I said, you have to be careful. The wife saw a painting she liked...a lot, and it was valued at $150. She asked me how high she should go, and I just said...how bad do you want it? It's up to you. She decided on $150, the value, so when the painting came up for bid. It started at $150, went down to $100 and when the guy said, "can I get $150?", the wife was a split second late. Someone else got their paddle up and noticed first, and before the wife got hers back down, the auctioneer had already got out.."can I get 200?" and saw her paddle. Before we could blink, we were out $200 for the painting. Hey, it's for a good cause, I guess. The lesson could have been far more expensive. I bid on a couple of golf packages, but the price went much higher than I was willing to pay, so I just let it go. I guess I undervalue golf, since I can play cheap at work...and heck...I rarely even do that.
One that is mandatory (you have to contribute a minimum of 7 hours of time to it in some capacity) is an annual auction. It's their biggest money maker of the year, and is apparently (little did I know) a major thing on the Saint Augustine local social calendar. As a parent, you are expected to either work at the auction or attend. Since we got all our required hours going around and begging businesses for stuff to auction off, we didn't have to work the auction, so we attended.
I've never been to an auction of any kind before. What an education. First there's just trying to keep up with the fast talking auctioneer, which requires a lot of focus and caution. Then there's watching the price fall and rise. He starts at the "value" of the item, which nobody's going to jump on, and works down until someone bites, and then works back up. So, for example, if he has a vacation package that's supposed to be worth $2000, he starts at $2000. Nobody bites. Everyone's waiting to see how low it'll go before someone else bites, so he asks $1500, then $1000, then $800, then $500. Finally, at $200, someone raises this paddle thing with their number (everyone gets their own number) on it to signal a bid. Then everyone else says...it's worth $2000 and it's only at $200, I'll go higher than that...and the bidding process begins, paddles go up in a constant stream of auctioneer verbage, pushing the price back up, in some cases more than where the guy started. It was interesting to watch.
Like I said, you have to be careful. The wife saw a painting she liked...a lot, and it was valued at $150. She asked me how high she should go, and I just said...how bad do you want it? It's up to you. She decided on $150, the value, so when the painting came up for bid. It started at $150, went down to $100 and when the guy said, "can I get $150?", the wife was a split second late. Someone else got their paddle up and noticed first, and before the wife got hers back down, the auctioneer had already got out.."can I get 200?" and saw her paddle. Before we could blink, we were out $200 for the painting. Hey, it's for a good cause, I guess. The lesson could have been far more expensive. I bid on a couple of golf packages, but the price went much higher than I was willing to pay, so I just let it go. I guess I undervalue golf, since I can play cheap at work...and heck...I rarely even do that.
Labels: potpourri
John put this out here at 8:05 AM
3 Comments:
not to mention you have Wii now, who needs the actual thing?
Yeah, if they ever make Wii bike riding I'll be back to being a couch potato...and that's not such a good thing.
For a few years, I donated a painting per semester to a private school for their fall and spring auctions. I had the hardest time putting a price on my work. And was totally shocked to find that a seascape I did had auctioned off at $1000...and all I thought it was worth was maybe $100 (mostly the frame).
I hope that you enjoy the painting. :)
Post a Comment
<< Home