Among the Rich

On Saturday, The Band played at a venue called "Lansdowne on the Potomac." This was in the middle of a very wealthy neighborhood. You could probably fit two of my houses into any one of theirs. It was quite specatcular to see how these people lived.

Depending on who you ask, we're not destitute. We're not in debt (unless you count stuff like the mortgage and car payments, which I don't really) and we're able to pay all of our bills on time while ensuring adequate nutrition and even an occasional outing. But we're certainly not rich, and live nothing like these people. For some reason I was quite intimidated and felt very out of place.

A little girl of about 6 or 7 came up to where SB and I were sitting and asked if we wanted a glow necklace. I thought that was really nice of her and asked SB if she wanted one. Then the girl told me it was $2. I didn't have any cash on me, but even if I did, there was no way I was supporting this girl, who would probably make a profit of at least $1 per necklace, and whose parents could probably affortd to send SB to the college of her choice along with their own children. I didn't feel too guilty declining.

I've been to enough gigs over the almost a decade that my husband and I have been together to get a good idea of what to expect. At gigs like wine festivals, the people usually bring coolers and chairs. The ones who are really serious will bring those sets from Pier One Imports or some such store that are like these wicker picnic baskets with silverware strapped to the lid and plates and wine coolers and all that good stuff that we don't really think to spend money on. These people had those and then some. The couple next to me actually brought their own mixed drinks in little glass glasses (as in actual glass' not plastic or styrofoam or anything practical like that to bring to an outside venue) with little red glass balls on the bottom. So they couldn't even put these glass glasses down.

There were a lot of kids running around and I was very busy being completely judgmental. I wondered how many of their outfits were from Target and how many were from Jack and Jill. I looked at all the women and wondered where they got their shoes from. Interestingly enough, I hated most of the shoes I saw. The trend was these little plastic looking sandals that looked like something our laundromat's wife wears. They could have been bought from Rite Aid yet these ladies probably paid about $75 for them.

The atmosphere was actually pretty nice. These people were all neighbors so a lot of them knew each other and all the kids were playing together. No one was really rude or pushy or negative (except for the one little boy who ran by and stepped on all 10 of my fingers without apologizing).

The Band sounded good. The high point was when a game of football just in front of the stage got a little out of hand and a Nerf-type football made its way onto the stage as my husband was playing a solo. I was very impressed that he caught it in his left hand without missing a beat (while playing and holding the trumpet in his right) and threw it back out. It was a proud moment for me as a Band Wife. I know, it's the little things.