Auction action isn't always fair

Growing up I always remember looking up to teachers and especially principals. They were role models and for the most part I was never let down.

As I have aged, I realize not everyone is as lucky as I was. Not all teachers and principals are the role models we wish them to be.

Recently I ventured out of town to attend a silent auction event at a Scott County school to help raise money for my nephew's school. It was a great event with tons of items to bid on and I'm sure a ton of money was raised.

I had my eye on four tickets to a Memphis Grizzlies game. The bidding went slow as I tried to calculate how much my bank account would allow me to spend and then how much I could go into debt. My nephew and other family members in attendance were all tuned into the bidding, letting me know any time the bid went up.

I noticed something strange though as the auction proceeded. An auction official set to watch the table holding several auction items continually hovered over the Grizzlies tickets, ignoring the rest of the table. Anytime someone would go near them she would eye them with a death stare.

I felt her beady little eyes as I made my first bid. So I started paying more attention and listening as I was close to the table. Come to find out, the lady who was watching the bidding on the table was also bidding on the tickets. I knew I was in trouble.

But I thought that it being a school event, no way would an official be making bids on the table they were watching. If that was the case, no way could anyone else win it.

As the time began to wind down I stood close by, ready to make my final bid. The final minutes ticked down. Her bid was there and it was time to make my move. I put the pencil on the paper and then the announcement came that time was up.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the auction official ripped the paper from me like a lion taking down a gazelle. It was such a dynamic take, a bystander even commented about how low it was, especially since she could have grabbed a number of other papers on the table, but chose the one with her bid to snatch first.

The official didn't care as she grabbed up the rest of the papers to add to her winning bid and raced to the back room. I'm sure if I would have finished writing my bid she would have just written hers down behind me and then picked up the sheets. As the official who could contradict her?

A few moments later I learned that not only was she protecting her bid, but she was also a school official. Now I know exactly how she got to be watching that table. There was no way anyone else was getting those tickets. But that's OK, because obviously at that table the concern wasn't raising money for the school, but instead just personal gain.

Fortunately the rest of the people I met at the event seemed to be great role models. Not the win at all costs, take no prisoners, cheat if you have to type attitude I encountered.

I chose not to make a big stink during the event and instead just mentioned it to an organizer and then went on my way. Why go crazy and make a scene for basketball tickets, that I can get anytime I want them? What kind of example does that set for my nephew? And besides, I wasn't out any money.

But seriously, I'm not one to hold a grudge and I hope she enjoys the game. And I sure hope we don't get a couple sheets of ice on the roads the day of the game so she can't get there. That would just be terrible. Just awful.