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overheard

there i was in a shop. nothing new there. i had no plans to buy anything i was just doing the browsing thing. browsing can be fun. 

i wasn’t the only one browsing. 

across the aisle to me two middle aged ladies were chatting. in the way of all conversations since the advent of the mobile phone it was loud and it carried. 

lady #1: i got a new bag the other day, it was a bargain. saved so much.

lady #2: really

lady #1: yes (very slightly smugly).

lady #2: well don’t keep me in suspense, how much did you save.

lady #1: £80,000

lady #2: that’s good, a bargain. you have to tell me where so i can get one. 

i do believe you could hear my jaw hitting the floor.

there are a number of things that come out of that exchange. 

firstly my blokeishness comes to the fore and i wonder why do you care so much about bags – surely all you do is put things in them.

secondly my blokeishness comes to the fore and i wonder why you care so much about labels that you want to spend huge amounts of money on owning them. (years ago when i was at college one of my student mates asked me what i thought about his new jumper. i said it looked ok; he was a bit taken aback because, as he told me, he had spent £200 on it. (this being a time when £200 was quite a bit to have). even then all i could think was surely after the first four or five wears you can no longer surprise people with how much it cost – because they have seen it a few times. perhaps this is why i am not a fashionista).

thirdly my incredulity kicks in – it is bad enough that a bag could cost £80,000 to start with, it is even worse that there are bags out there that can have £80,000 cut from their price tag and still be expensive. why i am shocked by this i don’t know, but i am.

fourthly i start to wonder if the ladies are single and would they like a bit of rough. i doubt it on both counts.

the rich just live differently from the rest of us.