I was really interested in reading the article Leah posted after reading her response. I think both Leah and the author aptly pointed out that our conventions of wealth are utterly skewed. A forty foot yacht is nothing compared to a 200 footer and what is a prop plane when your neighbor has a transcontinental jet. Leah point that "no matter what occurs the standard which is used to measure social status will always be obnoxious, whether it's based on family history or how much money you spent on a car that you don't drive, but leave in the drive-way for everyone else to see" stresses how fickle class actually is.
This past summer I worked at the pearl, one of the restaurants the Times author mentions. She contends that this is where the new money people go to "show off their wealth to each other." While I agree that the ostentatiousness of the nouveau riche is striking, I do not think that the old money can get off scot-free. For the past 50 years Nantucket has definitely been a "castle with a moat around it." However, the true Nantucketers are those that live there year round, not the ones that have had houses there for 50 years. I understand that this article is about the unabashedly showy wealth on the island, but I am not sure that those with old money are all that different from the newcomers. They all still want to join new yacht clubs, go to the nicest restaurants, and live in the most exclusive parts of the island. I can safely say I did not see one person in a Juicy Couture velour track suit this summer and I don't think that will ever change. Both the new and old money want Nantucket to remain a pristine and exclusive island. I think it is safer to say that those with enough money to pay for membership are welcome to join the party, regardless of whether their fortunes come from Yankee Candle or Goldman Sachs.
I do not pretend to say that I did not have to deal with some people I never wanted to see again in my life. I am not naive enough to think that they were all lovely people who had never lied, cheated, or stole to get ahead. The most important thing I learned this summer was that no matter who I was serving, I had to smile and wait on them without question. Chances are, they would leave the table and I would never see them again. However, it was people that made me feel as though I was their equal that I do remember.
I know this is quite tangental, but in hopes of tying this together, I will conclude with as much of a moral as I can. Up to a certain point, more money can make you happier. I do not think that can be argued. I cannot say however, that more money can or should change the way you treat people. New money, old money, it doesn't matter. No amount of money changes who are and where you came from, that I am sure of.
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