"Pardon me; would you have any...?"

Talk about snob appeal: for those old enough to remember the commercial some fifteen or so years ago, on a country road, one Rolls Royce pulled up beside another. A distinguished-looking gentleman "veddy properly" asked another through the car window, "Pardon me; would you have any Grey Poupon?" to which the other replied, "But of course," as he motions his chauffeur to drive on (you can see it on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmannAYiwh0 ). I always thought the stuff must be pretty special - something way beyond my pedestrian tastes and pocketbook. Anyhow, as part of my South Beach diet, I just tonight happened to have a hot ham and swiss sandwich (on a small wheat roll), which just happened to come with the celebrated Grey Poupon. You know what? The Grey Poupon was mustard! Mustard - nothing more or nothing less.

This led me to think back through all the years about all the things I had to have that looked so cool, righteous, special, whatever in the ads, and never were. I am finally learning. With today's economy, which seems to be heading further and further south on a daily basis, we all need to be more aware of what we are spending our money on and whether it's really worth it or not. Most often, it's not.

Later.