First it was the British press all abub about Michelle Obama's gifts to the prime minister's children. Now fellow parents are claiming the president and first lady cheaped out on the gifts they donated for the auction at the school daughters Sasha and Malia attend.
Really? This is what we're worried about in light of the disastrous global economy, a swine flu pandemic that's taking lives and should I even point upward to that ever-widening hole in the ozone layer?
The Obamas reportedly donated a Rolling Stone with a picture of President Barack Obama on the cover, autographed by the president. They also gave a copy of Vogue Magazine with the first lady on the cover, autographed by Michelle Obama. Have you priced a presidential autograph lately? An Obama-signed baseball recently went for $1,500, but hold on to it and who knows - a recent estimate put his signature on a picture at about $6,000. Anything signed by JFK is estimated to bring at least $2,500 at auction. These were hardly dollar store trinkets.
But according to MSNBC, the parents were hoping for something more personal - then President Bill Clinton gave a golf outing with himself while Chelsea Clinton once offered up her own baby-sitting services. Cool experiences? Most definitely, although I will say an Obama autograph can be sold down the line - you can't make any money back on having someone babysit your kids.
And while I understand Sidwell Friends is an exclusive school, as I understand it the cachet of having a president's child attend is a big draw for the school in and of itself. So the Obamas send their kids there AND pay money to send their kids there, and they have to give their own time too? You know, the time OTHER than that used for running a country at war with a crumbling economy?
School auctions are not big in my very rural area, so I'm not familiar with protocol. Do parents really feel that everyone has to give something of equal value? Isn't the point of paying tuition to a school sort of enough anyway?
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