I Look Rich, but I'm Not

Everyone in today's society is obsessed with wealth, starting at a very young age. Well, at least where I live by the beach, everyone is obsessed with money. It's all about what car you drive, what part of town you live in, what school you got your degree from, what designer clothes you wear, and on and on. We've got half of my generation racking up credit card debt, pretending to be people they aren't. Why do people try to pretend to be super wealthy when they're not? There are several reasons.

One, they're unhappy with their lives. It makes sense. A person feels like she is a failure and is jealous of her friends who have more than she does. So, she leases an expensive car she can't really afford, and charges expensive clothes onto credit card. This gives her the false sense of being rich, and in her own mind, she has created a fake reality. By having expensive items in her life, it gives her a taste of what being rich is like, and while she may never live in a huge estate and drive a Bentley, she's still got a grasp of the wealthy life in between her fingers.

Two, people do it for a sense of security and higher self-esteem. Even though they're not personally rich, no one else on the street knows that. People enjoy the wealth of stares they attract as they drive through town in their rented Porsche and flash their fake Tiffany's bracelet. Even though they can't relish the feeling of wealth forever, they most certainly can enjoy it for at least a day.

Jealousy is another main reason. Everyone wants what everyone else has, and more. Some people get off on making others jealous, and it makes them feel superior to others if they have something someone else doesn't have or wants. In my opinion, that's the wrong reason to want something, but it's a personal choice left up to the individual.

Then you've got the truly wealthy people who don't like to show off their wealth. Not every rich person walks around in a mink coat, dripping with diamonds. That's a myth society has created! Some of the richest people I know look like they're poor. They drive old cars, wear raggedy clothes, and still insist on paying with coupons. Thus, I stand by the saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover." You never really know who is what they say they are. Just because a person looks rich doesn't mean she is. It's all a facade. Makeup and costume jewelry accompanied by some excellent acting skills. And you might want to be nicer to that person who looks like he's homeless; he could actually be a millionaire in disguise.