Dilbert, your clever post did not go unnoticed!

Re FainaAgain: There was something in the news, a celebrity was asked to remove her shoes, and they got stolen, she took them off her feet!! And they were not in her luggage! The price was like $800+ or $900+, in this range.

I'm sorry, but whoever is foolish enough to spend that much money on SHOES deserves to get them stolen!

Just a thought, bmillersc. Have you ever spent over $30 on shoes? If so, I bet there are people in the world who can't afford that and think you deserve to have yours stolen too. Prices and income are all relative, you know. My guess is that that celebrity's shoes were a smaller percentage of her annual income than a pair of $30 shoes would be to yours. So what's your point? Sorry if this seems rude, but I don't think it's quite as rude as your post.

I don't feel the need to justify my response concerning the exorbitant amount spent on shoes by celebrities. You don't know what I make, or what I do. What I can tell you is this: yes, I have spent over $30 on shoes several times in my life, and yes I know how blessed I am to live where I do. I'm reminded of that every time I travel somewhere and see people who have less than we do in the good ol' USofA. What's important for me is to realize that most of those people are happy with what they have...probably happier than the average American. That's also why I choose to donate a significant portion of my income to my church and other charitable causes, and I'd be willing to put the percentage up with most celebrities.

and then there's the time we were flying Qantas from Sydney to LAX and they took away a small pair of nail clippers my husband had in his pocket,(even tho they had been thru all previous flights)and then served the meals with METAL KNIVES! When he questioned them about that, they just shrugged and said the passengers complained about plastic dinnerware. Go figure!

I think you totally missed my point, bmillersc. Just like you got mad because you thought I was insulting you (and I wasn't) re-read your own post without the first sentence. Change $30 to $800 and pretend the letter was written by someone like Jennifer Aniston (sorry, don't know the spelling). It would make just as much sense. It's not about a specific dollar amount, as you originally tried to make it.

Patrick: I got your point about percentage of income. I agree that while I think it is nuts that people spend $800 on shoes, others think it's nuts to spend $30 on shoes (in fact, that's more than many make in a month in a lot of countries). My wife, in fact, thinks it's nuts to spend over $20 for any clothing, so I really feel lucky there. So perhaps I overreacted a bit, but we'll both agree that sometimes that money could be used more wisely and for the greater good (not claiming to be perfect myself, either!). Truce.

Now if I could just figure out how to use those blasted emoticons!

howardr..you think dilbert was joking? i didn't think he or she was..but goodness, i hope he or she was!

Yes, bmillersc, TRUCE!!!

Now, to provide a little commentary relevant to this thread, I can share an experience of my own: On one of my first business trips to Mexico City, I was stopped going through the security check. The guard began speaking to me in rapid-fire Spanish (of which I only know the basic survival phrases), and I stood there with what had to be a dumbfounded look on my face. The guard said in broken English that I had a "weapon" in my bag and he could not let me pass. Fortunately, one of my traveling companions (a Mexican living in El Paso) came back and spoke to the guard, slipped him 50 pesos, and off I went. It turns out that he was interested in a little fold-up set of pliers that I had in the bag (forgot that I had them in there, as they were given to me by a supplier months before and tossed in there without a second thought). We all shared a laugh, but I often wondered if a pliers cost 50 pesos to slip through, what was the going rate for something more serious?

Yes, caribtraveler, I do not think that dilbert's post was meant to be taken seriously. Trust me!

ah yes you are right howardr...i saw the other dilbert posts...

Things I don't want stolen I ship home by UPS.

howardr and caribtraveler.....

My posts are 100% truthful and are meant to be taken seriously.

Be careful out there. The game has changed.