From the archive

Do you want to be rich or just look rich?

Here's a simple, uncomfortable question: if nobody ever finds out about this purchase, do you still want it? No photo. No key casually dropped on the table. No opportunity to work the price into a conversation. Just you and the thing. If yes, great. If the desire suddenly deflated, maybe you weren't buying a thing at all. Maybe you were trying to rent other people's respect. But respect on a monthly payment plan is a shitty arrangement. Miss the next installment, and suddenly it turns out you still don't have an answer when someone asks who you are.