Bloredom

What university could be more “British” than Cambridge? And surely stuffy “Classics” is a decidedly British subject? Well, here is blogger Mary Beard, professor in classics at Cambridge and classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement (a British publication, if ever there was one):

I am 52 and among the list of things still to do before I die is going to an auction – and managing to buy something. Actually I do remember going to a cattle market when I was about five to see my uncle, an auctioneer, in action. But that doesn’t quite count.

I can proudly say that I beat Ms. Beard on this one — and I am far from my fifties :-)
Last week, I took part in this most British activity, the auction. “MacGregors Auctioning House”, St. Andrews. A dusty shack, stuffed to the ceiling with all things useful and useless. And packed with a local crowd, mostly older folks (with the occasional awkward student in between). And here I found my new bicycle — an second-hand mountain bike, for which I had to outbid two fierce competitors, including one employee of the auctioning house (or was that just a strategy to bid up prices?). My winning bid was 44 British pounds, which was exclusive of VAT and a fee for the auctioning house (14.65 percent or so). So, 50 quids for a nice bike. Better than I thought (I should remark that there are virtually no other ways to obtain a second-hand bike here, so my best outside option would have been a new one).

Anyway, it’s quite an experience, I can tell you. Better than ebay, and more fun than most things that make it into the “Things not to miss” section of the Rough Guide.

The bottom line is, of course: I beat you, Oxbridge don!