You fucking rich little TWERP. (Kinda weak rant)

The BBQ Pit
61

Well, the overall tone of the rant is how rich his friend is, and how much he “wastes” on clothes and how little concept he has of how “real” people have to scrimp and save to make it by. His tone is hostile towards rich people in general, as is the general responses in this thread.

You judge a person by how they act and what they say, and the OP certainly acts as if his friends money is not really his to spend, but should be handed out to anybody less off than said friend, and him spending said money on things he likes is somehow “wrong” and makes him less “real” of a person. Or do you outright deny that this is not implied whatsoever.

Yes, I am hostile towards people that are so bigoted against rich people simply because they are rich. I am certainly hostile towards any idea that smacks of wealth distribution or an ethical code that states that people that earn more than somebody else should give it up instead of buying what they want.

Yeah, it would have been a great OP if all it was about was the OP bitching about how little of a concept rich people have of low-income lifestyles, wheter it be 10k a year or 50k. Oh wow, person A has grown up segmented from culture B, look how funny he is in not knowing anything about culture B! Hahaha, what a rich twerp. Please, and you are as aware of every culture as you expect him to be of yours? If not, then you (OP) are a hipocrite, and I hate hipocrites.

62

Right. And those who accepted $5 subscription gifts are just as equally horrible as I am. :rolleyes:

Oh for Christ sake, either defend your attack against me, or shut the fuck up already. It’s not what I “coveted all along,” it’s that – HELLO – if I don’t find a monetary source, I WON’T BE GOING TO COLLEGE NEXT YEAR.

If all you’re going to do is stop by the thread occasionally to take aim and shoot, then the least you can do is defend your reasoning. If you can’t, then there’s the door, don’t let it beat you in the ass on the way out.

You’re being a smarmy asshole, either put up or shut up. You don’t fucking know me, so quit acting like you do. Or are you only able to comprehend the shorter posts, and ignore the longer one – that is, the one directed to you.

To the rest of you in the thread who have shown a greater sense of understanding, thanks for all your suggestions. Anyone who thinks that $12,000 for an outfit ISN’T ridiculous needs to take a look around at the world for a few minutes.

Oh, and Epimetheus – I didn’t buy the car with $12,000 in cash, obviously. Your post of

is faulty in that you assume I can just hand out whatever I want whenever I want. If you just HAVE to fucking know, no, I couldn’t have easily bought a 100 dollar junker. I attend school pretty far away from home, hold a job there as well as a job at home, and need some sort of – oh, what’s the word?.. – RELIABLE transportation to and from each. When I bought the car originally, when I was 17, it was under my parents’ behest that I have THAT CAR. As I explain, I work my ass off to make sure that I can pay for every dime of it, though.

63

It certainly is his to spend as he wishes, but I don’t HAVE to agree with how he does it. And if he wants to continue a conversation in which I’ve already voiced my disagreement, then I’m going to continue giving my opinion.

64

Whats all the big deal about $12,000 suits? Don’t they all cost about that much? Hell, my Piaget watch cost more than that.

Oh, yeah, some libertarians are definately whackjobs. I know from personal experience.

65

The OP seems an OK person, but has an issue with the fact that a rich fried spends what seems to him an exorbitant amount of money on clothes.

There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THIS TO CAUSE ANYONE TO GET HOT UNDER THE COLLAR !

It should be pointed out that the rich guy buying 12000 dollar clothing is not harming the OP, also such money has not disappeared, it has probably gone to pay highly skilled tailors who are I assure you artisans and worthy of good pay. A cheap suit on the other hand might be made by skilled artists in a third world sweat shop, these artists would not be getting anywhere near the proportion of the suits cost that a tailor would, instead the price paid for a cheap suit would go mostly into the large clothing corporation that markets them.

Saying that the rich guy (who we are told already gives money to charity) should ware cheaper clothing and give more to charity, is no different from telling the OP that he should drive a cheaper car and give more to charity. As such the OP shouldn’t bear a grudge against the rich guy any more than a poor person should bare a grudge against the OP.

66

An excellent point, Bippy, and one that I had overlooked. As if there weren’t already enough irony to this no doubt embellished story, Caphis’ own clothing purchases support sweat shops where the hidden masses sew his middle-class jeans. He’s like an old British fop who, angry because he was not invited to dinner with the Queen, beats his servant for letting a fly into the house. The nerve of that bitch Queen.

67

I knew that if I stuck around on these boards, eventually I’d share some truth and wisdom! :wink: (Thanks monstro.)

caphis, don’t go down this road. Don’t do this. You’ll see eventually, it’s not somewhere you want to be.

After my dad died, my mom sold the house and moved. She moved all my dad’s stuff with her (naturally), which included a massive music collection (Classical LPs), a massive book collection (history, biology, travel, photography), admirable stamp collection, a coin collection. She also moved the very nice grand piano that my dad scrimped and saved to buy her.

Some of my mom’s friends were appalled at this massive collection of stuff that my dad left. They were appalled that someone could spend so much money on books and music. They told her so. They implied that she was wasting her money even moving all the stuff. They were annoyed with her for spending money to get the piano moved. They were really down on my dad for “wasting” all that money on books! And music! How frivolous is that?

Some of these people were good people who spent all their spare money helping the poor, donating to their church, and so forth. They were good people. And they thought that my dad “wasted” his money on books and music.

Now, I think I’d be hard pressed to find someone on this board who would state that books and music are a waste of money, but as I have illustrated, some people—some good people—do think that books and music are a “waste” of money.

No matter how “worthwhile” you think that something is, there’s going to be someone out there who will find something wasteful about it, something “unjustified” about it, and they’ll give you grief about it. Do you want to be one of these kinds of people? Yes or no?

Maybe after you’ve been on the recieving end of such treatment (like I have, like my mom has) you’ll understand how crappy it feels. But please try to pay attention to what I’m telling you now, and perhaps spare yourself behaving in an ungracious manner. Don’t do this. If you do this to this guy, you’re really no better than those petty people who begrudged me my new wardrobe after I lost my weight, and you’re no better than those people who bitched to my mom about my dad’s collection of books. You’re NO BETTER. So don’t do that.

68

Lib… Jesus, where the hell are you coming from?

So, this guy, down on his luck, not doing well financially, gets together with a rich friend. Tells him how much he’s in debt, as it comes up in a discussion. Friend: “Oh, that’s just pocket change to me - I spend that much on clothing alone…” Without a word of concern. They have a quick discussion about the merits of this. Then the friend adopts a number of bizarre positions, including “my parents forced this horrible burden upon me”, “all good clothing costs 12,000 bucks per outfit” and “it’s harder to be rich, because I have to keep track of all that money”. And he doesn’t offer money, concern, or even the slightest bit of advice.

That is, until he wants the down on his luck guy to shut up.

Oh yes, Libertarian! He is an evil man, supporting sweatshops! Having no choice but to buy reasonably priced clothing is no excuse! He’s just angry because he’s not rich! His friend’s condescending, cold, and rude behaviour have absolutely nothing to do with it! Money’s what he really wants.

:rolleyes:

69

A buddy of mine and I had to go shopping so that he could buy a present for another friend’s wife who’d just squeezed out a pup, and while we were waiting for the present to be giftwrapped at the “service desk” we got to talking with one of the gals who worked there.

My friend works for a large university in Nashville, and he makes $50K/yr doing pretty much nothing (his own admission), he was advising the gal behind the counter that she needed to get a Mac computer, and when I pointed out that Mac’s were probably out of the gal’s price range (she and I make probably about the same amount on the hour and she’s a college student, so no slam on her at all), his response was, “Mac’s aren’t all that expensive, you can pick one up for $1,100.” I tried to explain to him that was waaaaaay more than she can afford, but he couldn’t quite grasp the facts of the matter. (I’ve known him for almost 20 years now, and he’s a spoiled rich kid.)

Later on that evening, he and I were discussing Formula 1 racing (I like calling it “NASCAR rich white guys” because it pisses him off to no end) and I said that I had no interest in the matter. He told me that he didn’t understand why, since I had a fascination with classic cars.

“There’s no way that I could ever afford to drive one of those things,” I said. “And that’s what I like about classic cars is that I can sit in one and just feel history oozing into me.”

“You could afford to drive one of those cars.” He replied, dismissively. “There’s this test track in France where you could go to drive one of them.”

Rather than get into an argument about this, I simply asked him how much the airfare to France would cost me. He quoted me a ballpark figure, and I pointed out that that price was over twice my weekly income. This shocked him (since at first he failed to understand that a human being could live on “so little money”). He did, however grasp that such a trip was beyond my means (after all, why the fuck should I fly to France, just so I can spend a significant portion of my income on driving around a loop until I disappear up my own asshole?), and perhaps I might have finally gotten through to him that intelligence does not equal paycheck size. (Yeah, I seriously doubt it, but one can always hope.)

70

Gadfly, surely you understand that the OP gave a tainted version of the alleged incident, if not because he is immature then simply because people always do. When I’m talking to friends, I don’t pry into their finances. Why should his rich friend? He offered to help when he was told the problem. And our empty-headed hero attacked him like a stepped-on cat. Meanwhile, he sees absolutely nothing wrong with his having a $12,000 car while half the world starves and dies of AIDS. It’s fucking pathetic.

71

I think a lot of you are being too hard on the OP. When you are broke, the last thing you want to hear is how much money someone has and how money shouldn’t be a problem.

I, too, however, think the OP overstated the point when he wrote that if he had $12,000, he would give it to people who needed it more. I don’t think that is really rational either. And I do doubt that the OP would do that That being said, what is so wrong about being annoyed on an emotional level that someone has things a hell of a lot easier than you for no other reason than luck. Luck at birth. Being born rich is the easiest way to stay rich and get richer. I see nothing wrong with the OP being annoyed at this basic fact of life. It is annoying.

It isn’t like the OP wished death on this person. I think he just wants his friend to be slightly more appreciative of where he finds himself financially and how that contrasts with how most people must live in order to get by.

It isn’t the OP’s business what his friend does with his money. However, being a bit disturbed by it is understandable.

72

Libertarian:

Preach the LOVE good “Christain”;).

73

I can’t believe we’ve gotten this far and this hasn’t been questioned. $12,000 for regular clothes? I would bet that an average male actor at the Academy Awards doesn’t have $12,000 worth of clothing on. I doubt that many of the women do (although I think a few do). Does this guy wear tailored high fashion from top designers everyday?

Plus, his suits cost a lot more than $12K? Seriously, what kind of suits cost $15-20K? Based on my googling, a Savile Row tailored suit costs about $4000. What do you get for 4 times that?

<Interesting Sidenote> When entering “expensive suits” into Google, one of the sponsored links on the right was “JC Penny”. <IS>

74

Hell give him my IM and tell him to get ahold of me. I’m crying because the power company took a double payment of 120.00 and thats the difference between me paying my rent and being homeless. Jesus on a jumping jack I’d give my left ass cheek for 2200!!! Little bastard could have them BOTH for 5K!! :eek:

75

Sure, personal stories always have a bit of a slant. I’m just viewing the situation on the basis of what was posted here.

His rich friend started by making a completely unecessary and rude comment: “Only $2200?” Rich friend asks for a clarification question, responds with another rude comment, about dropping 12,000 dollars on a single outfit.

This is tantamount to having a discussion with a homeless man who is in hard times about his financial troubles, and proceeding to wave your earthly posessions at him, crying “Lo, behold my iPod and reasonably priced attire - I bear on my limbs goods of more value than what you gather during a week of begging!”

The friend only offers help when the conversation gets nasty. He does it in a condescending manner, and seems to do it just to get him to shut up. Whether or not this was intended, the fact remains that he acted very, very rudely earlier in the conversation.

This… Is where you lose me completely. Isn’t this condemnation a bit of a double-standard? I mean, you defend his friend, who pays 12,000 bucks on an outfit, when he could buy a decent outfit for a hundredth of that price.

The OP paid $12,000 for reasonable transportation. Something he needed. A price that he couldn’t go much lower than to stay within his criteria. And even if he could, a $12,000 car when you need transportation is certainly a less frivolous purchase than a $12,000 outfit, wouldn’t you say?

76

There we go, getting into that again.

Don’t, I repeat, DON’T, start making judgments on what other people spend on stuff. While you (and I) may find $12,000 for an outfit to be outrageous, it’s not our money. And as someone else has pointed out, the money goes to people who are making a living too.

I make pottery and artwork. While none of my artwork has sold for huge money, occasionally it has sold for more than a little bit. I am sure that the money one of my customers spent on my artwork could have gone towards helping a homeless person, or an orphan or something. But instead they gave the money to me, in exchange for a completely non-essential, non-life-sustaining item (artwork). Was such a purchase “justified”? Let’s say I sold a painting for $12,000. (I haven’t.) Would you begrudge me that money for my artwork?

Who gets to decide what is reasonable? Why couldn’t the OP take a bus? People do it all the time. I went for years without a car. Took the bus everywhere. So why couldn’t the OP? Why, I may decide to deem a car to be an “unreasonable” expense. That’s my opinion. Who are you to disbute that?

Needed? Who gets to decide that? Why couldn’t he take the bus? Why couldn’t he get a cheaper car? (I speak as a person who still owns and drives a 1987 Dodge, by the way.)

Who gets to decide what is frivolous?

My mom had some friends who decided that my dad’s book and record collection was “frivolous.” He wasted that money on books about history, travel, photography and biology. He could have spent that money ever so much better, don’t you think? And yes, he wasted money on a very nice grand piano for my mother. The nerve! How frivolous can you get?

Is this the kind of person you want to be? Deciding for other people what is or is not “important” enough, or is or is not “frivolous”? By the way, what have you bought lately? Want to offer up a detailed list, so the rest of us can decide whether you made “justified” purchases?

77

I’m not saying that the guy can’t have a $12,000 suit. I’m saying that waving it in front of a guy who’s down on his luck is kind of… Rude? Inconsiderate?

And that Lib’s criticizing the guy for spending 12,000 smackers on a car when children are dying in Africa and so forth - in the course of defending a man who apparently paid 12,000 clams for a suit - is a little bizarre.

Oh, and I’m basing his claims of needing reliable transportation in car form from his claims - I don’t know how accurate they are.

I have no problem with someone blowing 12,000 dollars on an outfit. But really, if someone’s in hard times, financially, don’t wave it in front of them.

78

I agree that the rich guy is clueless and oblivious. However, you have to understand that to some people, just breathing while rich is “waving it in front of them.” If you have a nice car, or live in a nice house, then that alone is enough to piss some people off. There are so many degrees to this kind of behavior, (and I have experienced it myself, and I am by no means rich), and I just want to make it clear that it is in no way acceptable to do this.

And you went beyond just railing on the guy for “waving it in front of him.” For instance:

See, I don’t understand what the point is here. The guy has every right to spend whatever amount of money he wants to spend on whatever the hell he wants to spend it on. And I defend that guy’s right to spend $12,000 on anything as well. As a matter of principle, I defend him. And I don’t give a shit that he could buy an outfit at a hundredth of that price. That has nothing to do with anything. It is none of my business and I don’t see how it’s your business (or the OP’s business) either.

And then there’s this:

This comment has nothing to do with the guy “waving it in his face.” This is a pure, unadulterated value judgment on how people spend their money.

But you (and the OP) are talking about what kinds of purchases are and are not “frivolous,” and are bitching about how this guy spends his money. That is not your call to make about someone else.

I’m not saying that you can’t have an opinion (we all have opinions) but your opinion is basically meaningless in this context. Just like my mom’s friends had a right to their opinions (about my dad’s book purchases being “frivolous”). But I found their “opinions” to be damned intrusive and annoying. And RUDE. Do you agree that these people’s opinions (about my dad’s book collection) were rude, or do you think that they were entitled to make judgments about my dad’s book buying budget? Do you think my dad was “waving it in their faces” because we had a huge bookcase full of books in our house?

If you think that you declare someone else’s purchase to be less “frivolous” than another purchase, then I hope you understand that you open yourself up to the same treatment. Do you want to be treated that way—having someone else spout off their “opinion” about which one of your purchases was “frivolous” or not? Wouldn’t you find that obnoxious?

Well, when it’s been done to me, I sure as hell found it obnoxious.

79

Thank you - I’d never quite thought about the situation that way. Yeah, I would find it obnoxious. Looking back, that wasn’t a terribly well-thought-out statement I made about the car compared to the clothes.

Back to Lib’s condemnation. He basically condemned the OP for seeing nothing wrong with spending 12,000 dollars on a car - in the course of defending someone who spent 12,000 dollars on a single outfit. It seems a little ridiculous and two-faced, is all. I was pointing out that the rich friend was making a similar decision, and therefore, by Lib’s standard, deserved condemnation as well, but didn’t receive it.

80

Good! I’m glad we’re on the same page with that. :slight_smile:

I think he was trying to point out that there is no “one size fits all” criteria to spending.

See, to some people, spending a whopping $12,000 on a vehicle would be beyond frivolous. In some parts of the world, this would be unheard of. Some people could get around on a donkey and use that $12,000 to feed a bunch of starving kids. I am sure you are aware that in some parts of the world, this would be true.

So if a hypothetical donkey-riding starving-child-feeding person sees the OP plunk down $12,000 for a car (a mere vehicle), they might carry on about how wasteful the OP was, since in their world view, that $12,000 could go for things that were much more “justifiable” and less “frivlous.”

And no doubt the OP would disagree with the hypothetical donkey-riding person, and no doubt the OP would defend his decision to spend $12,000 on a car. But why should he disagree, since, in someone else’s world view, that much money spent on a mere vehicle is pretty much obscene?

So, if the OP feels like he can complain or bitch about the rich guy spending money on clothes, then he opens himself up to be criticized for spending $12,000 on a car. Why not? It’s pretty offensive to the donkey-riders of the world, after all.