Have you ever felt unappreciated for the lengths you've gone to when it comes feting a friend or business associate? Instead of going to the Stop and Shop or the Food Emporium, you've spent the extra bucks at Citarella's to get those porterhouse steaks, which while he or she's wolfing them down, you want to say, you know those came to over a bill. Does he or she even fathom the expense you've gone out to? Or say you let it fly at one of the local trendy bistros and tell the crowd of friends you've invited for your birthday, it's on me. Sure everyone is smiling and especially the waiter? Who doesn't like being given carte blanche? But after everyone has ordered all the things they wouldn't normally want to foot the bill for and are moaning how they couldn't eat another morsel, don't you feel a certain let down? They're not thinking about you and how much you've spent, but only about how full their tummies feel. Imagine a world where it becomes fashionable to let everyone know how much you're paying, a world where you actually put little cards in front of people's plates, like the seating tags that are sometimes provided at dinner parties, indicating how much their meals cost? Everyone knows that you serve expensive food to people you want to impress and more modest fare to those you could easily do without. So in order to make it worthwhile to spend a lot on someone, you want monetize how much people meant to you. If you've forked out for a two pound lobster, you want your guests to know that the $75-100 you've spent is a recognition of the depth of the friendship. After all, there are those for whom you would only buy the 1and ¼ pounder for $49.
{This was originally posted to The Screaming Pope, Francis Levy's blog of rants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture}