economy stresses the wealthy. (get out your handkerchiefs)

[greenman3610]

THEIR spouses could leave them when they discover that their net worth has collapsed to eight figures from nine. Friends and business associates could avoid them as they pass their lunchtime tables at Barney’s or the Four Seasons. And these snubs could trickle down to their children.

“They fear their kids won’t get invited to the right birthday parties,” said Michele Kleier, an Upper East Side-based real estate broker. “If they have to give up things that are invisible, they’re O.K. as long as they don’t have give up things visible to the outside world.”

So New York’s very wealthy are addressing their distress in discreet and often awkward ways. They try to move their $165 sessions with personal trainers to a time slot that they know is already taken. They agree to tour multimillion-dollar apartments and then say the spaces don’t match their specifications. They apply for a line of credit before art auctions, supposedly to buy a painting or a sculpture, but use that borrowed money to pay other debts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/fashion/01rich.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=6d3334714c971621&ex=1212638400

[Rage for Order]

1. May I be the first to...

:nopity:

[mrdmk]

2. Mine is a Stradivarius

:nopity:

[DCKit]

11. Mine says "Made in China"

:nopity:

[mrdmk]

22. Use plenty of rosin on your bow

:nopity:

[emilyg]

7. I'll join you

:nopity:

[Fox Mulder]

8. I'll also join you:

:nopity:

[Rex]

3. I hope they all go broke and have to eat out of a dumpster behind the local

McDonalds. Kidding, that is a life no one should have to live.

I'm poor, but give money to a few people I know that have next to nothing. I'm a rich king compared to them. Guess I should go and by a painting or a sculpture... :eyes:

[Iris]

4. oh dear god.

:eyes:

[Eurobabe]

5. Cry me a fucking river.

:nopity: on cue.

[AlCzervik]

6. yes, it's like something out of a Dickens Novel.

[Captain Angry]

9. The moral of the story.

Becoming wealthy does not make one wise. Always save for the rainy day. Never live beyond your means.

Look to Bill Gates. If he hadn't gotten married to Melinda, he'd probably still dress like a run of the mill programmer. :-) He has his cars, and half an island, but for somebody with the net worth he's had, he could live a lot bigger. He doesn't.

The people discussed in this article have spent for appearance and have painted themselves into a corner that only they can see.

[Adsos Letter]

10. As I observed on another thread...

...we all have our crosses to bear in life...

[Runcible Spoon]

12. NY Times eh? how many of the people written about in this article have read this?

I would say there is quite a scandal in Manhattan; I would bet money (no pun intended) that it's fairly easy to pull out names from amount of detail in this article!

Delicious and fucking tragic all at once.

[Speck Tater]

13. The rich have rich-person suffering. The poor have poor-person suffering.

The single have single-person suffering.
The married have married-person suffering.
The young have young-person suffering.
The old have old-person suffering.

The one thing we all have in common is suffering.

But there is a way to end that suffering.

[LeftyMom]

16. No proselytizing on DU please.

:marks "pushy buddhists" off of the list of things remaining until I've seen everything:

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Now for all of you making fun and bringing out the violins

I will kindly point this to you.

THIS IS A VERY BAD SIGN.

When was the last time we saw this?

1929

If they are feeling the squeeze... things are far worst than we knew... especially since the press is reporting it

(fellow Cassandrans we will soon have to tell our friends on the other side, WE TOLD YOU SO!)

[Selatius]

15. You know what? They can fucking shove it. There are much more important things than...

keeping up with the goddamn Joneses. There are people on starvation diets now. There are food shortages now. The US gov't doesn't say they are starving anymore. They simply say that they're suffering from "low food security." So what if they only buy one plasma flatpanel TV instead of the usual three to replace the old models from 2005? There are some people out there who can't even afford a can of Campbell soup. For them, it's the soup kitchen.

If they want financial help, fine, but the starving people come first, and the line is pretty fucking long for these upper east-siders. They have it so good, they shouldn't even be complaining. They should thank their masters that they even still have a job or a home.

I swear it, one day the people in the top 1 percent are going to push the peasants too far.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. I'm just pointing out that if these folks are noticing

(and we all live in a consumer culture, not only them), the economy is far worst than they are telling us

Yes Depression comes to mind.

And in a depression everybody suffers... especially the ones with the least amount of resources

[lonestarnot]

20. They already have.

[shanti]

17. poor babies

:eyes:

[derby378]

19. You have GOT to listen to BOOM DOT BUST by Firesign Theatre

Seriously. In addition to the CD being a wonderful romp through Billville, it pokes hard at people just like the poor deprived schmucks in that NYT article.

And just think - all these unfortunates were George W. Bush's biggest supporters! Are they feeling remorse yet? :evilgrin:

[lonestarnot]

21. His base is sliding with him! Tee hee.

How unfortunate. :evilgrin:

[annonymous]

23. Poor babies

I simply cannot feel sorry for these people. There are worse things in life than your child not getting invited to a birthday party.