Sold...for how much!? Fellows prove frugal at annual auction

Jessica Hagendorn
Advertising/Marketing Director
I was sold for five dollars. I could have sworn the selling of people went out with the Emancipation Proclamation, but there I was, an item for sale in Jobe Lounge. In fairness, it wasn’t my person for sale, but rather my company for a date. The Lounge was filled with students bidding for their classmates, trying to get a date for Valentine’s Day.

“We take cash, checks, and credit cards,” announced Gabe Lara, the faculty advisor of the Organization of Latin American Students. OLAS sponsored the date auction and managed to raise over $700 for Relay for Life, ECC’s annual cancer benefit.

One would expect to notice something about how slaves may have felt from this experience, but I didn’t. What I learned from participating in the Valentine’s Day Auction is that guys are cheapskates.

One attractive lady after another took the stage to be sold for less than ten dollars. The highest any girl was sold for was $50. The guys, on the other hand, were going for much more.

I commend the ladies who weren’t afraid to put their money where their mouths were and go after what they wanted. Not only did they get a good-looking date of their choice, but they donated to a good cause.

What happened, gentlemen? I saw one group of men pressure one of their female friends into volunteering for the auction. Then not one of them would bid on her. They finally found their balls (or felt really guilty) and pushed her bid up to 14 or 15 dollars.

Come on, guys. Has the downturn in the economy really turned people into such moneygrubbers that they can’t donate a twenty to cancer research? Judging by the showing at the auction, I guess so.

Thank you ladies, for picking up the slack. Perhaps the men won’t be so cheap and will make a better showing next year.