File Under: WTF?

I love EBay.  Not a week goes by that I don't bid on something.  I've seen some bizarre things for sale on there over the years - a tennis ball allegedly tossed by Elian Gonzalez, a toenail from Elvis Presley, and even gum chewed by Brittany Spears.  I thought I had seen it all until yesterday when I saw the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich up for bid.

A couple of co-workers told me about it, knowing I would appreciate something bizarre like this.  (Side note: hats off to my co-workers for coming up with blog-worthy topics.)  I looked at the item and immediately thought "WTF?"  The story has it that a woman in Hollywood, Florida made this grilled cheese sandwich 10 years ago and after taking one bite out of it, she said she saw a face looking back at her.  After careful examination, she determined the face was that of the Virgin Mary.  She put the sandwich in a clear plastic box, where the sandwich rests on a bed of cotton balls.  She's kept the miracle sandwich (actually, a half sandwich) on her nightstand ever since.  While there isn't any documentation of miracles occurring as a result of this grilled cheese sandwich, the woman says she's won $70,000 from a local casino during the time she's had the sandwich.  Incidentally, the sandwich was made from plain white bread (or "light bread" as we say in the south) and American cheese, and was cooked with no oil or butter.

I did a search on EBay for "Virgin Mary grilled cheese" and it brought up almost 300 items.  Most of the items I looked at had the picture of the infamous grilled cheese sandwich - Christmas ornaments, light switchplate covers, trading cards, Italian charms, checkbook covers, and even thongs.  The funniest t-shirt I saw was on that said "I went to EBay and all I got was this Virgin Mary grilled cheese t-shirt."  Too funny.

As of a few minutes ago, the latest bid on the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich was $7,600.  There's only two days left until the auction ends, so bid early and bid often.  I'm hungry now, so I think I'll go fix a grilled cheese sandwich.