I’m going to describe three actual situations I experienced in the last month. All three spurred my thinking about the psychology and dynamics of wealth and I’m looking for feedback, reactions, thoughts of all kinds. Please – let it fly! Whatever direction this takes is great. I will follow up in a couple of weeks with some of my own thoughts, but for now I want to see where people take these. Please go to LinkedIn and join the conversation on this by CLICKING HERE!
#1 – I’m at a NY Rangers hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York City with my 23-year-old son to my left and a young boy, about 11 years old, to my right and his dad was to his right. I asked the young man if he played hockey, and he shared that he was on a team and loved the Rangers. I shared that I played up until a couple of years ago, also love the Rangers and we had a nice conversation about hockey and why we love it so much.
I asked what team he played on and where he lived. He told me the name of his team/club and shared, “I live in Greenwich, CT.” Upon hearing this, his father snapped his head to look at me (he had been uninvolved in any of our conversation prior to this). He turned to his son, back at me, and finally turned to the game saying nothing at all.
#2 – I swim with a Masters team and we had a meet in a neighboring state. After the meet, we went for lunch, about 12 of us. I’m very friendly with everyone on the team and we have fun together. Lots of good-natured teasing. One of my teammates brought her husband whom I never met before. Often, she and I banter playfully and her husband seemed like a guy with a sense of humor.
At one point during lunch her husband was sharing some funny stories about his family. Along the way he said he went to college “in the Boston area” and a bit later that his “parents had a little place on Long Island.” I jumped in and said with a grin, “Let me translate for those of you who might find it helpful. He went to Harvard and his parents have a place in the Hamptons.” I had no direct knowledge of any of this and only reacted to what he said and how he said it.
He and his wife started cracking up laughing, acknowledging that it was true and hilarious to them that I read it correctly (in this friendly context). Several others at the table simply stated some form of, “What just happened? How did you know all that from what he said?”
#3 – I was volunteering at an organization that works to eliminate food insecurity. There was a high school senior volunteering alongside me. Smart and friendly. We struck up conversation about all kinds of things. He shared a lot about his life and a couple of things stood out to me:
“My high school is in New York City and the CEOs of some huge companies send their kids there. The school is (prestigious private high school name here).” He goes on to name the huge companies and talk about the kids of the CEOs.
“I want to be very rich, and I do not want my kids to have to work. Well, maybe my sons…but not my daughters. I want my daughters to have it easy.”
Once again – please go to LinkedIn and join the conversation on this by CLICKING HERE!