<p>Yes, the Marriott points can cover a stay at the Ritz. And the Hilton points can cover a stay at the Waldorf. </p>
<p>
I usually stay at a Fairfield Inn. I don’t think that’s more than Comfortable. While Marriott does own Ritz now, I don’t really like to stay in them because you don’t get free breakfast, even if you are Marriott Gold.</p>
<p>Yea, I have docs who ask why I don’t apply for disability and others who say I’m the least disabled person they’ve ever met and am “healthier” and more capable than their patients with NO health conditions. </p>
<p>I think there is some “stigma” to being considered “rich,” while “comfortable” is OK. I serve people who have to decide whether to get their meds or pay their other bills, so yes, I do understand poverty. In our state 1 in 7 people go to food pantries at least once every year and the number is growing. There is a tremendous amount of food insecurity–people not sure where their next meal is coming from. There is also shelter insecurity, where folks aren’t sure whether they are sleeping in their car or elsewhere and don’t have stable housing. </p>
<p>I do feel very fortunate, lucky, and blessed to be in a position to help people who are financially “uncomfortable” and many who are financially very poor under most standards. It is not something I could do if I had to work multiple jobs to pay bills, since I do NOT have much funding and we rely upon donations to keep our services going.</p>
<p>okay, finally reached my definition of rich that I often forget.
My definition of rich is to travel hassle free. Minus TSA. With seats I can fit in to. A bit of service. (pretty much going back years). I don’t need my own Lear jet. Just what used to be the norm. Zone 3 doesn’t bother me–just give me room (I paid too) to put my small bag without the “you too could upgrade and enjoy it if we hadn’t gotten so cheap and people didn’t hog space before boarding…”
This is not an airline thread but I do get perturbed that airlines on a regular basis make their money based on making artificial class lines. Guess that’s a first world problem. Please no comments how donkeys are mode of transport in many countries. We’re talking about “feeling rich”.</p>
<p>As for the “hotel elite” special desks. I visit those all the time! Nobody else is at a desk.</p>
<p>I have never stayed at a Fairfield Inn but I would. </p>
<p>Last time I flew it was on Virgin America. I flew coach and I had the middle seat. </p>
<p>I found the plane cramped.</p>
<p>My wife has to have a window seat. I don’t think she understands the sacrifice I am making by sitting in the middle seat. :)</p>
<p>Only 11, 261 private jets! Our wealthy in the country must be rather frugal. I would think 11,261st richest person is worth hundreds of millions.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>@Pizzagirl, a least half of the people I know fall into that $200-$300k group, and I don’t think any of them begrudge the free rides to Harvard based on SES, athletics, etc. A good number of them were much less well off in the past, or have loved ones who currently are. </p>
<p>As far as being upset at the people above them, I find it helpful to know a few. I wouldn’t trade places with many of them. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>When my son was in fourth grade he learned about the sinking of Titanic in school. (The kids even made models of the ship, which I found a little macabre.) Around that time we were taking our annual winter trip to Florida to visit my family. As we made our way back from the comfortable, spacious first-class cabin toward coach, he said rather loudly, “Mom, how come whenever we fly we always have to ride in steerage?”</p>
<p>I guess teaching kids about class distinctions starts early. And BTW, I have never been “comfortable” enough to regularly pay for $1000-plus worth of plane tickets to travel to a warm-weather destination in high season. Thankfully, my dad always made that part of our Christmas gift until the kids got older and we ended the tradition.</p>
<p>My parents happened to know the owners of a major league baseball team, so the first time my kids got to go to a major league game, they were in the owner’s box. They were about 5 at the time. (I grew up going to Phillies games with my grandfather, who worked as an usher – so from one extreme to the other!) Anyway, they kept peeking out to where the masses sat and exclaiming how much they wanted to sit down there, and we had to keep telling them – um, no, people wait all their lives to sit up here!</p>
<p>"a least half of the people I know fall into that $200-$300k group, and I don’t think any of them begrudge the free rides to Harvard based on SES, athletics, etc. "</p>
<p>That’s the whole point of this thread - the caught-in-the-upper-middles who are angry that the folks below get a free ride and envious of the folks above. </p>
<p>@Pizzagirl, re #850 ???</p>
<p>I don’t know about the envious above a certain income. I don 't see too much of that here.</p>
<p>I have a vision of when I was a kid. Heavy set guy. Maybe in his 50’s . Sitting in a chair. His hands were partly down the inside of his pants. His thumbs were exposed. </p>
<p>I can hear the guy say, “I’m comfortable”.</p>
<p>My grandmother used to say once in a while, “So and so is comfortable”.</p>
<p>I don’t feel bad to say I’ve worked hard. I have. So has dh, so did my parents. It’s not a reflection on what anyone else did or didn’t do. Along with that, I am incredibly blessed in many ways. I am lucky. And we are comfortable. That’s all. </p>
<p>I am genuinely interested in why rich people, $200K-500K/yr group, don’t feel rich.>>>>>></p>
<p>For whatever reason, some are just not satisfied with what they’ve got. Have a 4 carat diamond, well, I want a 6 carat one. New luxury car every year, have to keep up appearances. Travel, travel, travel, always first class and there’s always someplace wonderful and expensive to go. The very best of everything and replace it every year. Remodel and redecorate constantly. Rip out the gardens and redo them. Buy vacation houses. They just always want more and realize that even with that income, there are limits that the ultra rich never reach.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t mind having a friend who would give me a ride in their megayacht.>>>>>>>>>>></p>
<p>I know, right? I have a friend whose bff from high school on married a man who is now a billionaire. Oh my! The experiences she gets treated to! Who needs money? I just need a uber rich friend or two! LOL.</p>
<p>It was a surreal morning. Really great for the most part, but there was definitely a sad note.</p>
<p>We stopped for a small treat on our return, and I saw one of the donation jars small businesses set out by the register on occasion for an individual with something serious going on in his or her life. It was for someone I know. Those jars not usually for someone I, personally, know. I contributed. I hope she weathers the storm well!</p>
<p>Interlaced world. I guess we just try to do the best we can figure out how to do.</p>
<p>One of my S’s freshman year roommates at Harvard is on full aid. Along with the usual expenses, Harvard gives him a phone, bedding and towels, and two round trip tickets home each year. I think he also got a winter coat since he is from California. I helped him make his bed on freshman move-in day because his parents couldn’t afford the trip…they will only go to his graduation. He’s had challenges finding his place socially and it’s obvious that he has almost no support from home. S feels bad for him and has always been there for him - sleeps on his futon every few weeks this year. Although Harvard only admits a few hundred students in similar situations each year - a drop in the bucket - the hope is that they will go back into their communities and be instruments of change.</p>
<p>Just a quick comment about something that came up a while back. Under $200,000 per year annual income does not equal free ride for FA, and I think most here know it. That’s a non-conversation starter. Be kind to each other! Or not. Some of you love jousting just for the sake of it, and while it’s not my cup of tea, who am I to say it shoudn’t be yours?</p>
<p>Not a fan of gory movies…</p>
<p>“That’s the whole point of this thread - the caught-in-the-upper-middles who are angry that the folks below get a free ride and envious of the folks above.”</p>
<p>That’s a rather obnoxious take on what this thread is about. Interesting that this is how you interpret the opinions of why people who make comparatively high incomes do not feel rich. </p>
<p>Kind of odd, all these lectures, exaggerations, generalizations and put downs, from someone who has never been shy about talking about how wealthy they are, on any thread.</p>