Attacking Life with Comedic Jaws of Sarcasm. Recovering Dating & Relationship Blogger - Made it to Step 12 When I Got Married.

Well Tonight Thank God It’s Them Instead of You

My brother and I have decided not to exchange Christmas presents this year.   Instead, we are going to help someone in need. You know how they have those Christmas Lists that kids write and they get printed in the paper? Well, we got way lucky.   My brother found someone’s Christmas List on the Metro North, while commuting from NYC back to Connecticut! Actually, the guy who was sitting next to him forgot it when he was collecting the rest of his fancy Wall Street Investment Reports and got off the train in Mamaroneck.

I would like to propose that we all band together and get this poor girl the items from her “dream wish list.” I think this girl has really and truly embraced the spirit of Christmas. Her boyfriend already put notes next to everything so some of the legwork is even done for us!

 

Let’s pause for some commentary. I like how her poor, obviously long-suffering boyfriend, put a question mark next to bicycle and “whatever the newest Chanel makeup is (as long as I don’t already have it.)” What is this guy supposed to do? Look through your makeup bag, take notes, and then go to the counter and say “Give me everything newer than this?” I also love that she misspelled Kerastase and he inserted the “S.” He seems detail oriented. (I have a theory that there are two types of people in the world: Detail Oriented and Big Picture. Detail oriented are the ones who crunch the numbers, dot the I’s, cross the T’s, and make sure the bills are paid on time. They are your Assistants, Associates, Analysts, etc, and they do not typically make a lot of money. The Big Picture people are the geniuses who see the path to success, the ones who can make it all happen, the movers and shakers. A Big Picture person would dispense this nonsense list to his assistant to handle so he could go off to make more money.) I think “Ivana More Stuff” set her sights on someone who may not be able to pay for her lofty ambitions.

She also wants Louis Vuitton City Guides, which you can clearly get on the cheap by another publisher. Has she heard of Fodors? Frommers? Phonies? Okay, maybe not that last one. But, she wants classic literature cheap. In fact, that’s the only thing she is price sensitive to. Poor Dickens is rolling over in his grave right now.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

How…fitting.

Oh, and speaking of things that fit, on to the shoes!

I would love to post a picture of the Louboutins, however, those fuckers defied all previous fashion norms and managed to copyright that stupid red sole they have. I worked in Fashion for a few years and this is unprecedented! Designers just had to live with being knocked off. So, anyone who posts a picture of their shoes gets slammed with a copyright infringement notice. I will, however, give you this link.

Let’s keep going.

 

The purses. This bitch is so into purses. Men, please listen up. Any girl who obsesses this much over purses at this price level is wasting your time. There will always be some new, fancier, more expensive purse she needs to have – and don’t think it ends there. If $1000 purses don’t keep her appeased, she’ll be trading you like yesterday’s Louis in no time.   And if she’s spending all her time making lists for you with links to all the places you can find such purses, guess what she’s not doing? Yeah that’s right big guy. You’ll have to figure out how to make that thing throw up all by yourself.

I had to check the price on the Cartier Love Bracelet. While Cartier won’t give you prices, it does appear it is $6200 according to other websites. Yowsers. Honey, I know you’re living in a bubble…a purse and Cartier filled bubble with your noise canceling ear phones on, but we’re in a recession. R E C E S S I O N. Do you know how many people will claim less than $6200 in income this year on their taxes? Probably one for each perfectly coiffed hair on your head.

Last part of the list.

My dog and I are currently sharing a chenille blankie that set me back $29. I’m warm though. I wonder how much warmer I would be if I were under the fancy Hermes Orange blanket. Would I be $1096 warmer? I dunno.

All right. So we have a plan laid out in front of us. If 150 of us can each contribute a dollar to this poor thing, we can buy her the Smythson Passport Cover.

Who’s with me?

46 Comments

  1. Angie

    Really, I hate when people get all “I’d do so much more for the world if I had that much money.” You know what, most of us here in America are as financially far above 90% of the people on the earth as the person writing this list is above us. To them, spending even $50 to eat out with our family would be obscene because that amount could feed theirs for months. So, do you still indulge in the luxuries that seem reasonable to you, like the $29 fleece throw (when a $1 blanket from the thrift store would keep you warm, then you could donate the other $28) and an engagement ring, or did you sell that ring and give the money to the homeless? We all indulge ourselves and don’t give as much as we could to the less fortunate. My family personally tithes (10% of our gross income) to charity, but I don’t pretend that I’m so much holier than richer people.

  2. Velvet

    Sarah – The brother informs me that he was looking at it, stacked it with a bunch of other papers, and put it next to him on an empty seat. Then he exited the train and didn’t collect all the papers. My brother, out of boredom, started reading some magazine he left there, then saw the paper beneath it. Maybe he did mean to leave it, out of disgust. But considering it was the evening train back to the burbs, it was probably emailed to him at work where he printed it out and brought it home with him. Or tried to.

    jnetter – Well, same here. I would never want something like that nor would I be pleased if Mr. Velvet spent that kind of money on me.

    Just Brenda – Thank you! Welcome!

    Mr. Velvet – Ha ha. Nope you didn’t. I tried.

    Angie – Well, I never promised to save the world, I just choose to direct my money to animal rescue groups. I personally wouldn’t spend $5K on a watch if I knew that money could help a high kill dog shelter not have to put down so many animals or if it could educate people on why they don’t have to have a god damned pure bred perfect dog from a breeder. But I digress. Sell my ring and give the money to the homeless? Oh. My. God. Which tree are you hugging so I can come by and say hello? As I said, I would have preferred that he not spend the money and we put it in the bank. I never said that I would earmark it and distribute it to homeless people. Not only would that not be my charity of choice, but, I would never insult the love of my life and his choice in a gift (I didn’t ask for) to signify our relationship. And so good for you that you give money away to charity. I would also support the idea of everyone personally saving 10% of their gross income, but who am I to say. We live in a world of credit and stuff.

  3. girlrover

    did anyone notice that he researched/had comments on/got the price for everything except the LOVE bracelet. very telling, i say …

    i read this ommission as: i’ll get you all this crap, but you ain’t getting any real love from me.

    poor girl. sucks being a vacuous, brand-hungry, materialistic wench.
    poor guy. suck having one as a girlfriend.

  4. val

    You know, i seriously still can’t believe that you bothered to judge this girl based on a xmas wish list your bro picked up on the train.

    Dude, its a DREAM wish list. If i had to make one, i’d have loads of stuff down. A grand house, a sleek sports car, many branded bags etc. Obviously all the things my money can’t buy me precisely because this is a dream wish list. I know that its not going to come true but but it can be nice just to put it in a list right. People walk by stores all the time and have a brief thought about how it would be nice to have this certain item.

    Similarly, its like when people ask you to describe your ideal guy. He is IDEAL for a reason. To which people will obviously come up with tall, handsome, wealthy, nice, generous blabla etc. We all know this guy is one in a million. billion perhaps and we’ll most definitely marry someone that would not be like that. But if we were judge based on those descriptions, wouldn’t we be seen as shallow, materialistic etc??

    So i really really really pity the girl who’s list was actually meant to be private. The fact that the guy left it there doesn’t mean it wasn’t private to her. And since when was it a crime to have dreams.

    I hope you’ll stop jumping on these small fragments of other’s lives you chance upon and drag it up onto your blog to criticize them when you have nothing else (or as interesting you might think) to blog about. Go read a book and judge it all you want.

  5. Velvet

    girlrover – I did see that. I actually figured it was because it was super expensive, but the alternative theory works too!

    Val – I’ll just address your last paragraph because it’s late and I’m sleepy-time. You hope I’ll stop jumping on small fragments….um…okay. Well, they say to never deprive someone of hope because it might be all they have. Thanks for your recipe and advice on what I should and shouldn’t do but based on how this post has proliferated through the web, I think I have managed to write content that people enjoy. And it’s my website. I’m allowed to judge whatever I want. As are you. Because look! You came here to comment!

    Also, the whole argument about the list being something she hoped would stay private…fucking crock of shit. Yes, I’m sure she hopes that no one ever finds out she asked for a bunch of purses that have their label obnoxiously printed up down and sideways on the thing. Shhhhhh. It’s a Louie. But it’s a secret!!!!

  6. daddy whorebux

    What did the guy look like?

    This list may be the only thing keeping our heroine from vomiting every time he makes her sleep with his boss.

  7. Velvet Fan

    @Dave – It’s clear you date only women like the clueless twit who wrote this list, so obviously you would expect all women to be overjoyed at receiving any of these gifts. Therefore, it’s also clear that you don’t view women as people to be your equal partner in a relationship, so what the hell do you expect from those you date? If you’re going to pick girls who only care about sparkly things who look nice and are willing to fuck you, don’t expect scintillating conversation and selflessness and then accuse all women of being this way.

    I would be horrified if a boyfriend or husband spent this kind of money on such ridiculous things for me. If someone wants to impress me with their wealth, they could make a massive donation to CARE or the ASPCA or WWF in my name – do something good with your money. Or travel somewhere and do volunteer work while you’re there. Don’t waste it on crap you don’t need. Wealth without responsibility is disgusting and, as many other commenters have pointed out, is exactly what landed us in the economic disaster we’re currently in today. Such conspicuous consumption right now is not only insensitive and unwise, it’s disgustingly tacky.

    And I’m not “poor”, either – just one of the rare few offspring of wealthy people who taught their children the important responsibilities that come with having money – primarily, that you are responsible for giving it away to those who have less than you, because there is never enough for the government to care for everyone, and you’re not gonna take it with you when you go.

    And @Velvet – You have a new Superfan. Parents who never purchased anything on credit AND an animal lover?!?! Keep on keepin’ on. (Connecticut FTW!)

  8. dream what?

    All those saying it’s “JUST A DREAM WISH LIST” … ummm, if it’s just a dream, then why was he taking it seriously by commenting in the margins and looking things up? I have a dream wish list too. A castle. A trip around the world to every luxury spa and yoga retreat in existence. A lifetime supply of chocolate malts from Mel’s. An iPod with endless space that never dies. I don’t look up specifics and attach links and give the list to someone. It’s a dream for a reason – you’re not supposed to take it seriously. This, on the other hand, is quite blatantly something that both parties took very seriously.

  9. Joanna

    How do you know the list is for a boyfriend vs husband? Or that it wasn’t the assistant that managed to lose the list he/she had been researching for their boss?

    Although I admit there’s not a single thing on this list of interest to me, I think having a dream list is fun and my own boyfriend of 13 years would love to have a list to make his life easier. (It’s a recession and I’m unemployed, so we’re keeping it under $20.)

    I think it’s kind of cute that someone put some effort into researching the list and figuring out that Kerastase was spelled wrong. 😉

  10. LowerMiddleClassInLove

    Although originally computer generated, I found it a little refreshing that this couple is still printing out lists on real paper and then using a real pen in hand to make notes on said real paper list. I guess he didn’t get an IPad for his birthday. Maybe that is on HIS Christmas “wish” list. Actually, I don’t even know if you can write on an IPad. Can you? Anyway, I didn’t get a chance to make a wish list this year. My boyfriend got me what he thought I wanted through investigative work he did when I wasn’t paying attention. Whatever it ends up being, I adore that. He, on the other hand, was a little annoyed that I asked him to make me a list (I mean boys are hard to shop for, right?). That, in turn, annoyed me a little. He did, however, begrudgingly make a list on the back of an envelope that had two items (both around a hundred bucks each) of which I purchased both. I had actually been thinking I went a little overboard. I feel a little better now.

  11. jason

    Why is everybody assuming she wanted it all. Maybe the guy said, put together your wish list and she did. I doubt she’s expecting all of that, I doubt shes expecting most of it. Maybe she would just be happy with the spa package and the books. Point is, who knows.

    It’s not wrong to want nice things. Even in a recession.

  12. McCoy

    Maybe he left it on the train because his list only has one item: new girlfriend.

  13. Tracy

    And see, this is why we needed those tax breaks for the uber-rich. This’ll keep the economy humming!

  14. Velvet

    Daddy Whorebux – late 30’s / early 40’s, dark hair with a bit of gray, thin. So there. I just described half of NYC. Sorry. That’s what he looked like though.

    Velvet Fan – Ha ha. Loved “Connecticut FTW.” I can’t say we were raised to give it away, my parents are depression babies. They get money and stuff it in the bank. This, of course, is a drastic improvement over what we could have turned out like. Greeks are known for stuffing money in mattresses. At least they taught us to open bank accounts and save for a rainy day. (A rainy day which, mind you, must be an incredible tsunami hurricane tornado to get my dad to part with a few dollars.)

    Dream what? – I am wondering if she made it for herself, just as a point of reference, then gave it to him? I felt bad reading those notes. I want to find him and set him up with someone else.

    Joanna – I do know it was a guy, like I said above, in his late 30’s / early 40’s, who works in Finance because he had investment reports with him that he also forgot. It could be a wife. It could be a girlfriend. Hard to tell, but in any case, yes, he went through some extensive research.

    Lower Middle Class in Love – Um…you’re asking the wrong person about an ipad. I have no clue. I’m notoriously the last person to upgrade to the “next big thing.” Spending $200 on a loved one seems totally acceptable to me. Last Christmas I got my husband a trip to Napa, but of course, the bargain hunter I am, we flew on miles and I got a package hotel deal, for around $250 that included breakfast and Happy Hour snacks. We did rather well, all things considered. Of course unless you have miles, it’s hard to pull off a trip like that for so cheap.

    Jason – It’s not wrong, but, I think the general sentiment here was that because of the location of the train, the guy was a Wall Street guy. (Which he was based on the other things he left behind.) I think the public has run out of sympathy for the Wall Street guys after we watched them all get bailed out, then collect huge bonuses. AIG anyone? It’s just a testament to our times that it seems from this list, there are people out there who haven’t learned a damn thing. There were plenty of people who made the incomes to afford million dollar houses, and so they bought them. But then one bad season or a layoff, and they were out of cash within a month and getting foreclosed on. Who ends up paying for all this? The rest of us.

    Mccoy – I have a few I can set him up with!

    Tracy – LOL. Seriously.

  15. andrea

    this diva has gone buck wild, does she know we are in a recession? I ride metro north everyday to work- maybe i’m working at the wrong job, i need their paycheck.

  16. billp

    Scorn this superficial, materialistic gold-digger all you want, she’s laughing all the way to the bank.

  17. Jen

    It’s a dream list, he probably will get her one thing on the list and asked her for a list (that’s why he priced them out).
    Maybe he got her something last year that was extravagant but not something she really liked.

    PS-
    A wealthy man would not price everything out.

  18. Kendall

    Thank you for this blog post and the comments that followed. It is a VERY slow day at work and the entertainment they gave me was priceless. Couldn’t be happier I stumbled upon your blog! Thank you for the laughs ~ Merry Christmas!

  19. Amanda

    I can’t imagine writing a list like that, ever. There’s just nothing on there that interests me. Also? We couldn’t afford any but the least expensive things on there. I can’t say that I begrudge the girl her toys, though. I know several people who enjoy “designer” crap and none of them are vacuous, gold-digging, lumps of useless flesh. I didn’t realize that those things go hand in hand.

    I giggled my way through this entire post but the comments made me feel a little guilty for doing so. It’s just a list found on the train, guys. I get the eye-rolling and general bemusement but there is some real nasty stuff in here. Who knows what the details of these people’s lives are? Without knowing for sure, it hardly seems worth getting that bent out of shape.

  20. Velvet

    Andrea – I think she’s either ready for the recession to be over, or there never was one for her and the man.

    Billp – Maybe. Appearances are deceiving though. A lot of times the people we think have money end up not having anything. Think of all the people who had million dollar plus houses in the heyday. Then they got laid off and 2 months later couldn’t make a payment. Sometimes people have a ton of stuff, but no money in the bank.

    Jen – Excellent point. A wealthy man wouldn’t do that. Makes me more sad for him.

    Kendall – Thank you!!! And Welcome!

    Amanda – Not being able to afford the least expensive thing on the list reminds me of this clip of Oprah on Talk Soup last week. She’s passing some photogs who ask her what to get their mom and she says something about a jewelry box. The guy responds and says, “less expensive” and she goes, “It’s not expensive, it’s around $100.” And he says, “Yeah. LESS expensive.” And thanks for pointing out that it’s a list found on a train. The few comments that either want to put my life under a microscope or want to defend her right to purchase whatever she wants have missed two important points: Recession & Sarcasm.

  21. Siryn

    “A wealthy man would not price everything out.”

    Not always true, they do if they are cheap or, by the grace of God, they care about value and have some common sense.

    My jaw dropped when I read the list, and I’m still amazed. I realize that it’s a “dream” list but there was entirely too much research on both sides to not think that she seriously entertains a hope of getting something from the lower parts of the list.

    You can tell that she’s not really from money, or is very young, by how she terms things – “fancy,” for example. But she wears Chanel makeup, which isn’t cheap, and it sounds like she has a lot of it. Just sounds spoiled. He, on the other hand, gave her a nice spa gift last year, which was reasonable (note the “ok”). She upped the ante a thousandfold this year.

    It is nice that she is so insulated from the recession that she can ask for such things. And it’s nice that she wants him to stimulate the economy with such extravagant spending, but next time she should try picking more stuff that comes from small businesses here at home, and justify the extension of the lower taxes on her boyfriend’s upper margins.

  22. George

    Darn it! That WAS private! Now you all know me …

  23. msd

    I love how this bitch wants a bicycle. He probably put the ? because he could not picture her on a bicycle, in her sparkly Louboutins, with her oversized Alexa bag, actually moving her legs to get somewhere. And anyone who requests a $6k+ “love” bracelet has absolutely no clue what love means.

  24. LilMissTNT

    Poor guy. He’ll probably consider himself lucky if, after buying all that crap, he gets a half-assed handjob.

  25. msd

    ah p.s. – I have a feeling this dude’s secretary did the research and made the notes (hence the correction to spelling of “Kerastase” – do you really think any (straight) man knows how to spell Keratase?? come on!). And something tells me the type of man who can afford to buy all this crap for this type of girlfriend/wife/whatever does NOT have the time to research every item and take notes.

  26. Surreal Estate

    So the dude got off in Mamaroneck, eh? Not too surprising but would have predicted it was more like Rye or Greenwich, CT with that high maintenance xmas wish list.

    I grew up in Mam’k and the reason I say “not too surprising” is because it may not be the wealthiest enclave in America but it certainly breeds a competitive bunch. A xmas “tradition” beginning as early as first grade was to call all your friends up and size up what they got versus how you made out. Generally, a call would come in about mid morning, after most of us had unwrapped our gifts. The caller on the other end would want to know “what did you get for xmas?” (w/ glee in voice). On the other end of the line you could hear the caller taking notes (mental and physical) remarking anxiously, “go on….go on….yeah, what else, Ok, uh huh……and then …pause……”that’s it??? you didn’t get anything more than that???? Really?? Oh come on…….that’s only 10 or so gifts…..there must be some more for you later on in the day…..” I kid you not. That was what little girls and boys from Mam’k did on xmas morning. As if they were taking inventory for a retail chain. Sizing up the quantity but never the quality of what gifts one received.

    To say that the Grinch stole xmas was an understatement. It was the classmates dreaded phone calls. Taking out all the excitement and satisfication I had with xmas only to diminish it to an itemized list – sizing up whether or not I was truly a loved child or maybe in their minds….not.

  27. Suzanne

    So…maybe it’s just my west coast thing…but does a guy who has $20k to spend on extravagant gifts also typically take a train and not a car service? I’m feeling like the guy who got the list was maybe an assistant and not the boyfriend/husband.

    Otherwise the list was hilarious. By the time I got to the 3rd purse, I was thinking “Are you f*cking kidding me? You need maybe ONE expensive purse at a time. ONE. And not an overly fashionable one cuz it’ll just go out of style in like 3 months.”

    But you know, that’s just me. My dream xmas list includes travel and money in a savings account.

  28. Ann

    I’m with Suzanne. I think the guy who left it on the train was the assistant detail oriented person, not the dude with the high maintenance gf/wife soon to collecting alimony.

  29. Velvet

    Siryn – I found it odd he priced EVERYTHING though. (Well, okay, not the Love Bracelet.) He either has an incredible attention to detail and amazing perseverance or he was looking for something, anything that wasn’t several thousand dollars. In any case, Chanel Makeup sounds like a weird request for a young girl. I don’t know…I feel like Nars and MAC are the two go-to brands, and Chanel isn’t something a younger girl would ask for. It’s more, uh, classic? Is that the word?

    George – And so you now have your list back!

    msd – Absolutely right about the Love Bracelet.

    Surreal Estate – Did you ever stop picking up the phone? I would have. Damn. That’s some competitive Christmassing.

    Suzanne – Most people take the train. Traffic is too bad and NY roads are too unpredictable (7 hour traffic jams, potholes the size of Texas) to make driving an option. The high end may take their own car, or a hired car, but it’s the exception not the rule. My version of expensive purses is $150. $1000 is crazy to me!

    Ann – he was late 30’s / early 40’s – Coming home that late on the train that night, it didn’t seem likely he fit the bill of an Assistant, but I suppose anything is possible.

  30. Julie

    Looks to me like hubs asked wife for list of what she wants. She, used to luxury, gives a list to him that he gives to his secretary. Secretary does the research on the items and provides him with follow up, hence the hand written notes. I’m not sure why they’re being criticized. I would hope they’re also generous in terms of charitable giving but it’s their money to spend as they wish. Either way they’re contributing to the economy. What do you think rich people give each other for Christmas, Isotoner Gloves and Swatches?? Unless you’re suggesting that the luxury goods industry just simply shut down, who else is going to buy all that expensive crap?

  31. brad

    Hey, don’t exagerate! – The Cartier bracelet’s price is listed at that website address.

    Not only is it only $4700, but it even comes with its own little screwdriver!

  32. Anonymous

    the way some of you are talking is hideous. Does wanting expensive things mean she ‘ better do anal’ in return. What the fuck is wrong with the people suggesting this woman is a whore or alternativly isn’ t sucking her man’s dick enough. Honestly I pity the girlfriends/ wives/daughters of the people who think this way about women. If this was a dude’s list I can’t imagine the conversation sounding even remotely so viscious.

  33. Mizz

    Hahahaaaa. Thanks for posting this. I wish the people who obviously enjoy staying miserable (ohhh, who are you all to judge this poor, poor gold-digging wench??) would shut the hell up and go talk to themselves in the mirror for a while. Maybe in the midst of that, they’d come up with the perfect plan to save the world from itself, cure cancer, and take away everyone’s rights to speak their damn mind lol.

    Again, thanks for this, and keep posting all this jazz!!

  34. bdb

    Clearly all the people who are saying “who are you to judge? what’s wrong with rich people spending all their hard-earned money?” are the ones whose xmas lists look exactly like this one – why else would they be taking it so personally? Ok, you all are right – the true spirit of celebrating the birth of Baby Jesus is dropping loads of dough on name-brand luxury items – preferably at least $10-15k per person. Jesus would have been so proud! Let’s see, what did he say?

    “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'”
    -Matthew 19:23-24

  35. Hammer

    He’s approaching this the wrong way. Phil needs to sit this boy down and set him straight, Playaz-style.

  36. namaste

    hahahha what bitch,but he deserves her.

  37. ophelia

    There are scores of women in Greenwich, New Canaan, and Darien who are thoroughly puzzled as to why anyone is looking askance at this list.

  38. DaveW

    Well, this story is getting bigger. I’m reading this on the Times London (iPad edition – my only extravagance in life)…Now the mainstream media have picked this up, I expect they will track down the happy couple……

    Let’s have some fun at Christmas

    Best wishes from UK

  39. Jaimee

    I have only one blatantly obvious question: If this guy could afford even 1/4th of the items on the list – why on earth was he taking the train instead of being chauffeured by his driver everywhere?

  40. Bob

    I feel bad for this schmuck. If he’s noting the free shipping and handling for the skillet, this is obviously a huge stretch.

  41. CT girl

    to Jaimee: The train takes significantly less time than driving anywhere out of NYC. It’s the only chance of getting out of work at 5 and being home by 6 if you live outside the city limits. Chauffeurs don’t make the commute on the road any shorter. Most of the time the Metro North trains during rush hour are packed with people who make more money in a week than I make in a month. The exceptions are the individuals who are David Letterman-esque rich. And usually they stay in Manhattan during the week and travel to their houses in CT on the weekends.

  42. Dee

    Such a materialistic, greedy, self-centered girl! I can’t believe there are people that actually make up Christmas lists easily worth over $10,000 in useless “stuff”, and even worse, people that would buy someone everything on that horrible list!!

    That list is a blatant display of how greedy she is..he probably lost it on purpose so he didn’t have to buy her anything on it! I hope she gets a hand-made macaroni card from him & that’s it!

  43. Forever Hippie

    I found reading this list, and, more importantly the attendant comments, to be a very interesting experience. Rather than allow myself “holier-than-thou” moments of self-gratuitous back-patting (which was extremely hard to resist, I might add), I became introspective and philosophical. I analyzed my own “dream wish list”, and found that it contained items like the following:
    1. One Honest Man/Woman with the intelligence and courage to lead us (Props and Kudos to Diogenes the Cynic)
    2. A great big purse (from Goodwill, of course) filled with magic dust that, when sprinkled near someone, provides them with instant compassion/understanding for others, and the ability to see one’s self in them. I once read that recognizing our “self” in someone else is the first step to being able to love them. Imagine what such dust could do for diplomacy? Hell, imagine what it could do for the divorce rate????
    3. More self-discipline and organization skills…that I actually use consistently. Alas, there seems to be no magic dust for this either.
    4. The guts to actually charge my clients for the true amount of time I spend on their projects, which is probably related to #5
    5. A better understanding of how my sense of self-worth relates to dollars professionally.

    ………OK, so, we are getting into areas that only my therapist needs to know, but you get the picture.

    When I was kvetching years ago over my son’s seeming unquenchable materialism, I was told that there is “a God-shaped hole” in all of us (substitute whatever term works in your personal ideological framework), and that we spend much time and money trying unsuccessfully to fill this up with stuff and amusement, until we find the peace that comes from learning the value of giving, which, paradoxically, then fills us up. (I have personal paranoid theories about how we are manipulated to always want something bigger, better, “more” by that ever-present servant of capitalism, Madison Avenue, but that’s another lesson, Grasshopper.)

    So, my random thoughts on this random list of totally unimportant, random expensive shit, much of which will probably someday find its way into a thrift store of some kind. I love the image of a “bag lady” using one of these “bags” for the treasures she finds on the streets to save.

    In closing, I reference the great song by Delbert McClinton, entitled “Too Much Stuff”, which is an indictment of all of us.

  44. Egbert

    I have just read about the list in the (London) Times. Wow, just wow. I suppose I must move in rather different circles from these people…

  45. betty sue

    I have a passport cover that I bought on clearance at Target and Rick Steves’ travel guides for when I’m on the continent. Suck it, plebes!

  46. Michael

    Hey, do you realize that anything you want seems as materialistic to people that can’t afford a fucking meal as these things seem to you? You’re a fucking obnoxious hypocrite. PS. I’m poor.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 Velvet in Dupont

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑