W: It's Still Not Easy Being Enormously Wealthy

Like last month’s article about the oh-so-difficult quest to find the perfect nanny wasn’t enough, the May issue of W is replete with even more of the difficulties of the upper-crust experience.

Take this quote from “Mystic River” by Christopher Bagley, wherein the author discusses the rough adjustment to the service at the Old Cataract Hotel, “allegedly the best place” in Aswan, Egypt. Why the “allegedly”? Well, after a week of being catered to hand-and-foot on a cruise down the Nile, Bagley faces a rude awakening.

I distractedly reach for the handbell to summon the waiter, only to realize that there is no bell. And no waiter.

Grudgingly, and a bit wistfully, I get up to fetch lunch myself.

Oh, we hope he managed!

And let’s not overlook this annoying quote from “Eye: All-Stars,” wherein a wealthy and famous actress displays both a massive sense of entitlement and a seriously lousy sense of judgment:

Meanwhile, at Dior Beauty’s dinner at the Chateau Marmont, Charlize Theron, who happens to be the face of Dior’s J’adore fragrance, dropped by to get her nose powdered while pondering marketing strategies. “How do you get housewives in Cleveland to buy Dior makeup?” queried the actress innocently.

“Innocently”? We’re guessing W added that because even they recognize that making sweeping generalizations about the people to whom you’re trying to sell expensive luxury goods is exceedingly poor form.  And whatever your sales strategy, it’s probably a lot harder now that the brand's spokesperson has impugned the potential customers’ taste and buying power in a national magazine.  Good job, Charlize!

And a hearty congratulations to W, too, for its steady stream of class-conscious tripe.  If their goal is to accentuate the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us, they’re doing a commendable job.

Comments

[Lizzy]

Gah! I knew there were more reasons to hate Charlize Theron!