Going, going… STAYING!
So much for driving to Sunday mass in the Pope’s former car.
Apparently, no one was willing to fork over enough money to pay for a 1999 metallic gray Volkswagen Golf believed to once belong to Pope Benedict XVI. The hatchback was up on eBay, but the auction ended Saturday without a winner.
According to news reports, this is the second time in two years the car has been up for bid with no takers. This time the bids surpassed $204,000, but that still didn’t meet the reserve price. (A spokeswoman for eBay, told reporters it was not known what the seller’s minimum price was.)
What we do know is that the seller is a Texas-based online casino, which purchased the vehicle in 2005 on eBay from a man in Germany. To prove that the VW actually belonged to the pope the casino posted two authentic German automobile registration documents that list “Josef Kardinal Ratzinger” as the vehicle’s previous owner. In addition, eBay executives said prior to allowing the car to be listed on their site they also verified the vehicle was owned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (prior to his ascent to the papacy).
Despite the fact that the seller promised to give 40% of the proceeds of the sale to Habitat for Humanity Great Britain, in the end no deal was made.
Would you spend more than $200,000 to cruise around in the pope’s old car?
No?
Okay, then, would you spend $3,400 for 300 uncooked lobsters?
A bunch of teens did. According to a Maine newspaper, 10 students recently showed up at a local lobster pound and bought all of the one-clawed lobsters in stock.
The owner of the store told reporters that the young people called the crustaceans “God’s creatures” and said they were on a mission to “free them.”
Unfortunately, the owner says the lobsters would likely be caught again. He says he even told the group as much, but that didn’t deter them. He said one person from the group merely replied that they were trying to give the lobsters a second chance at life.
Something to ponder the next time you dip a chunk of fluffy, white lobster tail meat into a ramekin of butter.
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