Priority Concern

I have recently discovered that a baseball card sold for approximately $2.35 million. Yep. For a baseball card. Don't believe me? Check this out. It's a 1909 Honus Wagner. Described as the "Holy Grail" of baseball cards.

Why does this bother me at all? It's the buyer's money, right? It's his interest, obviously -- his passion. After all, baseball is the American pastime. It's healthy (if you ignore the steroids). My own children play baseball at our local park. I have nothing at all against baseball. And I have an attic full of baseball cards -- my husband collected them like mad as a child. So, I have nothing against baseball cards. I just think that this shows how out of whack our American priorities are.

Why? Well, let's have a little history lesson. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. It was actually signed on July 2, not July 4, FYI. We've been celebrating the wrong date for 231 years. John Quincy Adams was one of its biggest supporters. In 1820, this venerable man became distressed at how quickly the original Declaration was deteriorating, due to handling and exposure to the elements during viewing. He had issued 200 authorized copies issued, so that the original could be preserved. Thirty-one copies are known to still exist. A copy came to light earlier this week. Its estimated value? $250,000.

Our priorities are off.