By Frances Bryce, January 16, 2020 – My friend’s husband was the walking, driving example of what the elite offered. Brand designer clothes, cookware, furniture, cars, etc. She said he was willing to pay whatever it cost if it came from the right store (as he saw it), [with the] right name with the right logo. He was what I called ego-driven and sought to wine, dine, and drive expensive cars. He worked in the financial field, so his bottom line enabled him to keep up with his well-heeled group.
His wife was very different. We scoured the discount district to get the best value at the lowest price. We looked for quality and I admit that often came with the higher prices. Once she told me about getting flowers sent to her job, not only on her birthday but other non-special occasions. I remarked about how great that was. She retorted that was so people could talk about how great he was, and it was not necessarily done for her. I did not reply but thought that it was a good gesture anyway.
They were going to travel to his hometown, and she was beginning to pack, and in my presence, she said that she had some fashion jewelry that would go well with an outfit that she was taking. Then she remarked that her husband would want her to take the diamond earrings he had recently bought for her. I looked askance. She said, “Don’t look surprised, you know him.”
If he took his lunch to work, it had to be in a bag with a logo from some special store. If she used a bag she saved, he said he was not a happy camper.
She got many benefits that he wished to promote, with special things he purchased for her, always opened for her to have the latest exercise outfits because he loved having her trim and fit.
In the later years when she was 42, it was discovered that she had cancer. This was after they had an adopted daughter. She died a year later. He changed somewhat after her death and his career in finance fell downward. He was out of work for a year or more and he took whatever job he could find outside of his field. He still drove his Mercedes-Benz as long as he could but was a good father to their daughter.