Affluence

I have nothing against wealth, though, I have great concerns, as I’ve said before, about the disparity between rich and poor and the decline and fall of the middle class.

I do have a remarkable distaste, however, for ostentation. This thought comes to mind because of a dinner we had this weekend; actually, we went out for dinner twice. 

On Friday evening we attended a nice, middle of the road Italian restaurant with another couple and had a lovely dinner for which split the check. Saturday, however, was an entirely different story. 

We dined with friends of my wife. They have had elaborate catered dinner parties which I’ve had to attended and been extraordinarily bored; and I am frequently shown all of their new possessions, not the least of which is a second Ferrari, among others. 

Going to dinner with these folks is always a pain in the neck: The husband never allows the check to split and makes a bit of show out of “grabbing” for it, almost as if to say “this just isn’t affordable for you.” 

Making things worse is his business, which I’ll not go into at this point except to say that a Federal agency is going to tag him one of these days on a “white collar” issue. It’s happened before and from his description of his business dealings, it’s bound to happen again. And, he doesn’t hesitate to discuss how money he’s bringing in on weekly basis. 

It is with great restraint that I don’t say, “Take ten percent of that and fund a shelter somewhere.” 

It is time again for Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times They Are A Changin’” to come to fore.