I Don't Get 'The Rich'

I don't get the rich. I'm not rich, never have been rich and probably will never be rich so perhaps that's why I don't get the rich.

They sometimes do things that completely baffle us non-rich people.

For instance, I recently read in the Wall Street Journal about how the popularity of oil paintings of former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan has waned.

At that point, I was already scratching my head. Unless you also knew Mr. Greenspan as "dad" or "pa-pa" or were closely related in some other way, why on earth would anyone want to have a picture of him, much less an oil painting?

I realize that art is in the eye of the beholder. I own a couple of signed prints by artist James Bama who specializes in highly detailed portraits of cowboys, Indians and mountain men. His level of detail is amazing, almost photographic. I like his work, but I own prints, not original oil paintings and the most expensive one cost about a hundred bucks.

In comparison, the WSJ article profiled people -- presumably rich people -- who spent thousands of dollars for portraits of Greenspan that they could hang in their offices or their homes. Some were paintings and some were limited edition prints. One guy from Tampa Bay paid $150,400 for a painting of the fed chief at an online auction in 2006.

But now the paintings and prints and the former fed chief have lost their luster and some of the rich people who acquired the artwork have put theirs into storage. The guy from Tampa says he keeps his under his bed.

What a massive waste of money. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to own a painting of the former fed chief then my last name had better be Greenspan and the last time I checked, it wasn't.

I have a lot better things to do with my money such as buying scratch-off lottery tickets.

I've heard that's one sure fire way to get rich.