A&M finds gold mine in people's lost stuff

Have you ever lost something and wondered where it went? If you happened to be at Texas A&M, it might have been sold to someone else in the school's biannual Lost-and-Found Auction, which was held yesterday. The event, sponsored by a campus service group, lets people bid on a variety of items found on campus, from electronics to sporting goods to clothes — even a foosball table. Sure, the stuff might not always have been what buyers were looking for, but one has to be pragmatic about these things:

Most of the sales were made up of bargain items like Adam Lee's $2 pair of camouflage pants.

"You never know when you'll need a pair of camo pants. They're my size, so I figured I'd buy them," he said.

Items become eligible for the auction after they've sat unclaimed in campus lost-and-founds for six months. Yesterday's event raised a record $3,100, about twice what the previous two auctions have brought in. But as the report noted, the rightful owners of the lost items can't expect to waltz in and take them home: One guy who found his jacket on one of the auction tables had to buy it back, just like everyone else.