Tough times for the mistress

In these financial times, it seems as though the wealthy are hurting, too. In a recent market research study among individuals with a net worth of $20 million (alas, we did not receive this survey...it must have gotten lost in the mail), it was found that 80% who had extra-marital mistresses were planning on cutting back on their gifts and allowances. 12% said that planned to give up their lovers altogether because of financial reasons.

It seems that these millionaires are curtailing their spending, and their lovers are included. I guess it's harder to hide expensive gives from your spouse when there are fewer dollars in the bank account.

It should be noted that questions about curtailing gifts to lovers came at the end of a longer survey about wealth management. The full survey was administered to 518 people, with 191 opting to answer these "extra" questions. There were some gender differences found, with surveyed wealthy men more likely to curtail gift giving to their lovers than wealthy females. However, because only one third of the survey respondents were female (about 63 total), I don't think this difference is statistically significant.

The full story is here. I guess it's nice to know that the rich, or those in bed with the rich, are suffering just like the rest of us!

Crazy. Ness.

Scott and I have never made a big deal about Valentine's Day. To us, it's an artificial - and superficial - holiday that carries no meaning to our relationship.

After work, I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few items. Complete mobscene. I circled the parking lot about twelve times, finally resigning myself to "stalk" a leaving customer so I could confiscate his spot. Then I elbowed my way past the swarm of people hovering around the 12,589 rose bouquest on sale at the front of the store. (That doesn't count the 1,476 bouquets on sale throughout the rest of the store).

The dairy section was sparsely populated - good news for me, as I scored a gallon of milk - but the meat, wine and cheese sections were all a-tither. Seriously, people.

On my way out of the store, I happened to walk next to a man who started laughing. I gave him a quizzical look. "All together now, let's say 'I love you.'" Nicely put. Somehow, we have all got it in our heads that we need to do the same thing as everyone else in this country, to tell the people we love that we love them. Crazy. Ness.

Of course, Scott and I are not completely exempt from the madness. I did receive roses from him today, which was a bit out of the blue (he has also been out of town for the past two weeks, so that might have something to do with it). And I succumbed to the peer pressure at Whole Foods and bought a bottle of Scott's favorite wine.