BIDDING ON BEEF!

  SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH., 2017
          BIDDING ON BEEF!

    I found myself somewhere half way
between Lehighton and Tamaqua on
Saturday in a Fire Hall stacked with
cartons of all kinds of food.
    My daughter, who is capable of
finding a bargain anywhere, led my
wife and I to this place for what was
called a "Food Auction."
     Another 60 or so people must have
got the word too because they were
sitting there as an auctioneer showed
off various items and then promptly
put them up for sale.
      He usually shouted out some price
that drew absolutely no response, then
lowered it by 5 or 10 dollars at a time
till he saw hands going up all over the
room looking to make a purchase.
      Each "bidder" held up a card with
a number accompanied by a couple
fingers to signify how many of each
item they wanted. They weren't really
bidding against each other so much as
taking advantage of the price they
liked.
      Jam was being offered about the
time we came in and before I was
comfortably seated I noted a jar in
my daughter's hand.
       So it went until the prime items,
the frozen and fresh meats, were
offered. Then, it seemed, everybody
wanted a "cut" of the action.
      My wife brought a couple large
freezer containers along and by the
time we left they were so filled she
had to remove the ice tray from our
refrigerator to get everything in.
      The bill for our haul was less
than our usual one at the grocery
store and I'll be seeing a lot of meat
in my dinner for quite some time to
come.
      The folks doing the showing and
selling impressed me. They were very
courteous to everyone even though it
was clear they were working very hard.
I complemented one of them who
simply replied..."The customer always
comes first." I can think of a few
market folks here are there who might
consider adopting that approach!
       I never actually "bid" on anything
myself. Good thing/ There wasn't any
more room!
       Hope we go back again sometime
and that all your NEWS is good.