I did not think it possible: It quietly makes its way up behind you, jabbing its cold plastic edge into your jugular. In the seconds remaining, you face your attacker. It is your credit card, and pulsing from the wound is the ransom you amassed to attend a 32-hour event.
It is easy to see how DoD runs up its tab.
I have shelled out the requisite funds-plus for the 25th reunion for the Naval Academy Class of 1984. Registration is $84. (Class prez says class needs money, and we’re getting an engraved brass compass memento. Fine.) The evening reception is $15 times two – a bargain. The all-important tailgater is a whopping $60 per person. (Will someone explain this to me?) Then there is another $36 per person for football tix to enter the stadium to reach the end zone, the site of the tailgater. (Scam!) Total for the ‘gater: $96 times two. (They tell me this is a bargain. Are we helping keep the economy afloat?).
The word is the total attending (including families) now exceeds 900.
Now to the practical part of retaking Fort Apache: Annapolis. Clothes, hair, shoes, etc. Cha-ching! (We cannot over emphasize the “cha-ching”, nor can we overstate the “etc.”). Hey, why not stay in Annapolis and get the full experience? Wow, the hotel is THAT much? (Numb!) Sure put it on the card. Book the dog sitter. (Drinks for everyone!)
Narcissism and sticker-shock aside, some will not attend because of the expense. Though money may tip the attendance scale, there’s little room for significant cuts in cost in this series of event. Maybe future events can accommodate the needs of more. Got kids? Fork it over. Though children attend at a reduced rate, the cost is considerable (on many levels) to admit a child to a gathering of active and recovering alcoholics.
The run for class president continues (and I must be clear: I am not endorsed by MOAA.) The online voting at the class site on the Naval Academy Alumni Association Web site is wrapping up. (Vote for me! Vote for me!) Information on all candidates is online. Read the essays!
Though we will take Annapolis by storm and in style, renewing contact with the good guys 25 years hence has proved most rewarding. Maybe even “priceless.”