Part of the reason I asked this question is that I hung around with a guy in the Navy who was pretty much as China Guy talks about. He really had no concept of money. He would toss his paychecks into the top of his locker, and he never cashed one AFAIK. He always paid by credit card. He joined for “the hell of it”.
Whenever our little group (four of us) would go out, he wouls always pay for everything. He said that it would be silly for him not to, because it didn’t cost him anything. I asked if his dad would be pissed about the bills, and he said his dad wouldn’t even know. Or care.
One time we went to an expensive supper club (in Manhatten) in uniform, and were turned away because we didn’t meet the dress code. When we got back to base he called his dad. A couple days later he got a letter from the management apologizing for the incident and inviting us all back. On the house! The staff treated us like celebs and seated us at a good table. This place didn’t even list prices on the menus. Good chow, too.
I never did learn just who his dad was, but he must have been somebody.
Anyway, he did use normal stuff, but often didn’t know what to choose. He shaved with a straight razor and one of those cups of soap.
Weird dude, but pretty cool.
Peace,
mangeorge
This is not unusual middle class behavior throughout most of Asia.
I think you also have to bear in mind there is a great difference between the neuveau riche (sp?) and say 4th or 5th generation rich. Attitudes are completely different.
I spent a couple work related days with Theodore Roosevelt III (I think he was III and not IV). anyhoo, he made a couple of two week trips a year for an investment bank. We would store up a couple of deals where being the grandson of Teddy Roosevelt would help close. He was real popular in the Philippines for example. His family was certainly reasonably wealthy, although I don’t know how much each individual grandkid was worth.
I think Ted enjoyed the work. Certainly, he got paid well but I believe that was a very secondary consideration. He was certainly and very suave and polished guy. Seemed genuinely nice, as opposed to the unflappable diplomatic type. He was also very professional. When he was working, his time was completely the company’s. Always enthusiastic and seemed to have a personal stake in closing the deal (not for a success fee but to “win” the deal).
He ate very well on those trips. Then again, investment bankers in a bull market have HUGE expense accounts. My biggest was a $2,000 dinner for 3 at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. And that was just for dinner, not the seriously expensive entertainment that took place later…
I remember reading that Bill Gates uses coupons when he goes shopping and that he once donated a few hundred dollars of Microsoft products to charity. The same article claimed that the guy behind Apple gave a considerable part of his fortune to charity. I forget the number, but it might’ve been a billion dollars in total.
I make it sound like a smear article, but it was more a brainless fluff piece.
I once was ‘bumped’ from coach to first class on a flight from Oakland to Buffalo, both ways. Now I know why those who can afford it, do. I would. No doubt about it.
It’s a different world.
Peace,
mangeorge
My whole opinion of Bill Gates changed after I heard some program on NPR. Apparently Bill and Melinda have given tons of money for things such as AIDS research. From what I recall, they gave more in one year that all of Europe. Here’s a link to their web site Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation
In case you’re in any doubt this link explains what jinty is talking about. You can even find out, say, where Prince Charles buys his tea (check out the “Directory” section).
Now what was it you 'Mericans were telling us about you guys not having a class system?
That is so not true.
Everyone knows that white undies show up better under white clothing than flesh-toned panties. White panties would totally ruin the look of resort wear.
And forget about sailing with VPLs! :eek:
I once read a book called something like “How to Marry a Rich Girl”. Obviously, it was somewhat tounge-in-cheek. But the main theme was how to enter into the world of old money and not be seen as an invader, so the book was a wealth (pardon the pun) of information on how the rich live.
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- My sister went to high school with a kid who was the son of the CEO (?) -or president? or something, of one of the major US airline companies.
I remember hearing that his dad had a 160 ft-yacht, I’d guess that qualifies as rich.
Around that time, the movie “Arthur” came out.
There’s a scene in the movie where Arthur and his butler are in a cloting store. Arthur orders twenty (of the same kind) of a dress shirt, and says “I hate my father”, and then the butler says “then order forty shirts”.
~
My sister asked this guy if he ever did that: that is, buy a whole bunch of the same kinds of clothes.
He said that he didn’t, but he knew people who did.
The reason was that they don’t like the way fabric looks after it’s been washed, so they wear it once and then donate it to charity. Same with (leather dress) shoes; they get tossed if they get wet at all, or when they start to show wrinkles (which happens after about five days of wear).
Same planet, different worlds… - MC
- My sister went to high school with a kid who was the son of the CEO (?) -or president? or something, of one of the major US airline companies.
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The late Jackie Onassis’ stepfather (Hugh Auchinloss) was tremendously wealthy-he was probably among the top 100 wealthiest men of his day. he was also incredibly cheap! Every December, when the weather got cold, he would disconnect the refrigerator and put the food out on the back porch…this probably saved him a few pennies. Old money tends to be cheap, it is the “new” rich that spend their bucks on flashy cars, expensive clothes, gaudy jewelry.Wher I live, (New England), the old money rich like to live in rural suburbs, and keep out of sight. They drive pretty nondescript vehicles (mostly older Chevies and Oldsmobiles), and send their kids to expensive boarding schools.They do like certain activities, like polo and sailboating, which are activities so expensive, that they would’nt have to mix with the lower classes.
“The rich are different than you or me.”
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
What a fascinating thread. One word in J.D. Rockefeller’s defense–later in life he turned philanthropy into a science. Just ask the University of Chicago. He also donated the the land for the United Nations. There are many, many other philanthropies he did, and I think Bill Gates will be similar. But they are the exceptions. Many of the filthy rich are parasites, benifiting from our great freedoms but not really giving anything back. OOPS, this is the general question forum. Sorry.
Besides Leona “only the little people pay taxes” Helmsley, here’s amother parasite:
http://www.lizziegrubman.com
I had a professor who was a tutor for a couple of the children of the Marx toys empire (remember mousetrap?). When sending him and the kids on trips (like going to a museum) into the city (NYC) the mother would hand him a couple of hundreds in case the children wanted anything. This was greater than his weekly salary.
I went to a high school that had two inherited-money millionaires on the faculty.
Background:
Rural Northwestern Pa, where I grew up, is mostly low-to-middle income people, including some genuine rural poverty cases, though the area’s not “deep” Appalachia - just the edge of it. There were a few families around, though, that had “old” money from the oil boom of the 1860’s. Hence, two members of those families on the Jr-Sr High School faculty.
One of them was an old lady who just liked to teach. The school board had to remind her to cash her paychecks, which she tended to ignore.
The other was a more interesting case - a young guy, whose grandfather had left him a huge trust fund, with the unusual stipulation that he could only draw on it if he was gainfully employed (there were also provisions for his education, etc). Apparently, it didn’t matter if he dug ditches - as long as he was doing SOMETHING, he was effectively a millionaire. He picked up teaching credentials because teachers were hired year around, but got the summer off, and he found that he could teach half-days and satisfy the terms of his trust. So, you had a Jr. High English teacher who collected expensive sports cars. Actually, he only taught for a few years - eventually, he broke the trust and moved to Arizona. I believe he picked up enough business interests of his own that he was a “businessman” and didn’t have to teach anymore. To his credit, he actually did do his job reasonably well while he was teaching.
(My parents were teachers, so I heard a lot about these cases. The young guy didn’t exactly endear himself to his colleagues, as he didn’t try to keep a low profile about his status. Since he worked half days, he came wandering in after lunch, doing things like exclaiming about how lovely it had been out on the golf course that morning.)
Minor correction to my post. Mousetrap was not made by Marx.
Having beem in a rich person’s house or two, I am reminded of the smell. Rich peoples’ houses smell good. Why? I’m not sure, but I would guess that they are continually cleaned and they buy lot of fresh flowers.
You know what they say: It is the exception that proves the rule.