Friday, December 12, 2008

Freemarket Kharma

Fortunately, I have never said I was a nice person. Or if I did say it, you should probably know not to trust me on the subject.

It's not nice to have warm, fuzzy feelings over the misfortunes of others.

But. . .

Mea Culpa. I couldn't help myself.

There I was, thumbing through my new issue of Vanity Fair (purchased frugally for a six dollar annual subscription rate on E-Bay) and I happened on Michael Shnayerson's article about the cutbacks the super rich are having to make in the wake of the Wall Street crisis.

I particularly liked the trophy wife gazing at shelves of $6000 handbags bemoaning the fact that she will have to cut back her maid service. She couldn't just sell one of those fancy bags? Pardon me if I'm feeling sorrier for the maid than I am for Ms. Trophyette.

Actually, it is the personal trainers, the nannies, the charities who depend on monies from the well-monied, the waiters and the real estate agents who are the real losers here. But the very wealthy, down to their last ten million or so, seem more worried about the upkeep on their summer homes than the fate of those they employ.

Poor, pitiful them.

And shame on Grace for having a laugh at their expense (both literally and figuratively!)

5 comments:

Fede said...

I'm right there with you Grace. My hubby is a photographer, but due to our economic woes, he is also a waiter to supplement the lost income and he gets stiffed all the time, by rich and poor alike, mostly rich! I'm talking about leaving a 5% tip on top of a 300 dollar bill!!! at an upscale restaurant!!! He loves it when a big party comes in, 'cos then the tip is added already and you can't get shafted! I suppose that's how the rich get richer?

Grace. said...

Oh have I got a book for your hubby! It's called "Waiter Rant" and there's a blog of the same name. He's in good company!

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

*rolls eyes* The uber rich.. seriously.

They should've thought about all of that BEFORE wasting tons of cash on material items.

Anonymous said...

Donald Trump can't afford to make a payment on one of his properties. What does he do? Sue the management firm and blames the recession is an act of God, thereby he can get a reduction on the loan payment.

wake up folks. How do you think the rich get rich? By being kind, honest and decent? All those charitable donations are just tax deductions to them!

Be glib, Grace. Enjoy it. Watch them go down!

Anonymous said...

yeah they get no sympathy from me either.
this week I saw someone complaining that because of the financial difficulties this year they could only spend a thousand dollars each on the (2) kids this year as they had to cut back on their spending..
excuse me??
(the kids are aged 4 & 6)