Are you too rich?

Sometimes I wonder what it's like to be rich. I don't mean rich with family and friends or spiritually rich, I mean literally, Donald Trump, cold, hard cash rich. I'm not crying poverty or even asking for charity. I just want to know what it's like to be able to buy a designer purse that costs more than my 1991 Dodge Shadow and not blink an eye. For those lucky few who are oozing with Benjamins, I can only ask the question: Where do you draw the line from being rich to being excessively rich? When does it all become too much? \nFor the answer to this question, I turned to my best source for all that is excessive about society -- MTV. Yes everyone, rich became too rich when MTV launched a show called "My Super Sweet 16." \nFor those of you who whole-heartedly agree with the logic and morals underlying this show, please brace yourselves. This will all be over soon. I understand that turning 16 is a much-anticipated event in a teenager's life. It is a right of passage to have a big party and possibly even get a car, but the ladies and gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) on this show have seriously gone too far. \nFor those of you who have not yet seen this spectacle of American consumerism gone berserk, picture this: It's your 16th birthday. You wake up (under your 2,000 thread-count Egyptian Cotton sheets) to the smell of your maid's freshly prepared french toast. You call your hair stylist, your manicurist, your clothing designer, etc., and yell at them for being 30 seconds late. You get dressed in your $3,000 dress or tux and ride in your stretch limo to your party where hundreds of people wait with bated breath for your arrival. Inside the party, there are DJs, cage dancers, celebrities, food as far as the eye can see and tons of people dancing and having the time of their lives -- all at your parents' expense. \nAnd then it happens. You get called outside, and there it is: a 2005 BMW convertible. You laugh, you cry, you call everyone at your party a jealous bitch and you call it a night. You have single-handedly made yourself the talk of the town. Hats off to you and your rich parents. Your popularity came at a price of $400,000. \nWas it worth it? Has your self-esteem and self-worth been adequately bolstered? Call me old school, but it is not OK to have a birthday party that costs more than your parents' wedding. I think there are much better ways to spend your money. Can we say philanthropy? I am not saying being rich is bad or even that money is evil. Don't get me wrong, I like money just as much as the next person, even if I don't have enough to buy a stylish pair of $600 Jimmy Choo shoes.