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| I don't believe in guilty pleasures. If you like something, revel in it. If you don't, don't do it. The closest I come is a website I know I shouldn't look at, but sometimes, I just can't help myself: Lifehacker. How to Tell If Someone Is Actually Rich  Plenty of people do "fake rich" to impress, intimidate, or sell something to you. Yes, that's because it works often enough for that to be a viable strategy. There was a time when rich people were pretty easy to spot. Everything about them, from their clothing to their leisure activities, was more or less designed to exclude the rubes. Yeah, I don't know about that. People have been conning other people for as long as there have been people. Probably. But things have changed in recent decades, and the signs of wealth have become harder to detect. This is due in part to the rise of the Influencer, the person on social media who curates their life in photos, reels, and emojis to convey an image of wealth and luxury—even though most of them are broke and just faking it, usually so they can sell you something. Ah, yes, that's why I saved this article so long ago: I've ragged on the concept of influenzas before. In a world where everyone is wearing jeans and T-shirts, and where a generous credit limit will allow you to live the high life (for a while, at least), how can you tell fake rich from real rich? Well, for starters, "real rich" has nothing to prove, doesn't need your approval, and often fakes a lower financial status in order to avoid beggars and golddiggers. Rich people don’t flash their wealth for one simple reason: They don’t think about it. Yeah, no, I seriously doubt it's only that "one simple reason." I spitballed three of them in the previous paragraph. If they do think about money, it’s often in terms of a reluctance to let people know how much money they have, and the steps they can take to hide it. Fair point. Truly wealthy people have more time, and this translates into knowledge in terms of skill sets and life experience. They know how to ski or ride a horse (or play polo); they know the protocols of private jets; they’re familiar with foreign cities in a way that goes beyond tourism. Or maybe they're just very, very good at video games and avoiding anything resembling Real Work. Fashion and luxury brands exist to advertise to the world that you have the money to pay for them, and that’s the last thing really rich folks need or want to do. Which doesn't make a lot of sense to me, why people think luxury brands signal that one is rich. If I have $1000, and spend $900 of it on a Prada briefcase (or whatever; hell if I know how much one costs or if it even exists), then I have $100: enough for a good meal at a decent steakhouse. But if I buy a cheap-ass leather briefcase on Amazon for $100, then I have $900: enough for a good meal with a kick-ass bottle of scotch after. Frankly, I'd rather have the steak and scotch. There is one exception: quality. There could be a good reason to spend more on long-lasting, comfortable clothing than on flash-in-the-pan fashion or cheap knockoffs. But the truly wealthy are disconnected from money to the point where everything seems free, because they often don’t directly pay for anything—and if they do, they don’t worry about the price of things. Paying for specific things or experiences just doesn’t really impact their day-to-day existence, which is why they can be stymied by questions like “How much does a gallon of milk cost?” Yeah, well, that may not be the best example. I'm not what you'd call wealthy: no private jets, no servants, modest house (it's fully paid for, which is wealth enough for me). But I couldn't tell you off the cuff what a gallon of milk costs, because I rarely buy the stuff, and when I do, it's like a quart. And you can't just multiply that cost by 4 to get the price of a gallon. Besides, truly wealthy people import it from Europe and it's labeled in liters. Right? They do that, right? I do know the approximate current price of a banana, though; those, I buy fairly regularly. It's less than a quarter. Someone's using low-wage labor there. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but often a surefire sign that someone is real rich is a lack of luggage. And this last bit doesn't make a lot of sense to me for a couple of reasons. First, in order to notice this, you, too, have to be traveling. Second, "real rich" doesn't travel commercial; even first class is beneath them—so you won't see them boarding or disembarking from their private plane, even if it's rented. But all of this simply raises the question of why one would need to spot "real rich," except for maybe just curiosity. You think they'll give you money or opportunity? They won't. And if they do, they're probably not "real rich," but trying to scam you. I say don't worry about it, and go about your life. Unless that life includes faking "rich" to get something out of people. |
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