$300 a Plate

We're going to a fancy ("fonn-see") dinner tonight.  It's a fundraiser for the MIND Research Institute, a local nonprofit that produces a large array of computer-based games that teach students fundamental math concepts, such as ratios, proportionality, and basic number functions.  The software, called ST Math, is in about 75 schools in Orange County and several hundred schools around the country.  Annually, they hold an "awards dinner" that raises several hundred thousand dollars in an evening, as well as recognizes teachers and students who advance the MIND mission.  I have been affiliated with MIND for more than 10 years and am lead investigator in a multi-million dollar grant that has MIND as subcontractor, and so Stephanie and I have been attending the awards dinner for many years.  Our tickets are normally comped, which is the only way we could attend.  This year, though, UCI has ante upped the standard $300 for four seats.  Comedian Brian Regan likes to comment on the absurdity of such fund raising events. He is is quite sure no dinner is worth $300 or $1000 or $3000.  If he did attend, then out of principle he would have to send his dinner back to the kitchen for an upgrade.  His explanation to the wait staff: "Oh, don't get me wrong, it's good.  It's just not that good!"