Rich People Are Funny

We are in Key Largo right now. Elizabeth and Lisel are still at home getting ready for the Willie tour but the rest of the band flew down here yesterday. We are playing a private party for some very nice people who have seen us in Steamboat Springs, CO. We play up there every summer as part of their music series.

We are at a resort here that is part vacation destination and part country club. It sits right on the water and I can see a big yacht and a lagoon and some palapas from my window. This resort has been described to us as the place where you buy your fourth home. I’ll try to remember that when my schooner comes in.

When your fourth home is a yacht!

They don’t do money here. For those of you who have not done a lot of country club hangin’, this is not unusual. Money is so…well… common. Those little plastic charge cards are so much cleaner. And they don’t want YOUR credit card. That is on file at the office. They only take the club’s card. All of this really prevents the rest of the world from enjoying the amenities. I think the guard booth and the gate helps do that too.

And in case you didn’t read the “welcome” packet, there is a dress code here. Unfortunately for me it does not approve of any of the clothes I have. In the restaurants, no denim is allowed and please, only collared shirts. Now I’ve never been a big fan of dress codes so maybe I’m biased. They seem to be the easiest way to squeeze life out of people. Coats are required here for dining in the nice restaurant. I’m not sure what the point of making people wear jackets to dine in the tropics but I’m sure there is one. Frankly I like to sit down to a nice meal in my wife-beater and some gym shorts, but that’s just me.

And once you’ve eaten (I managed to slip into the breakfast in my jeans and gig shirt, but lunch will be verboten in this outfit) they hand you a bill with the gratuity added. 15%. It should be a law that people who make more than 100 K per year should have to tip 20%. Geez.

And the rooms are super sweet (or is that suite) but do I really need a flat screen T.V. in the bathroom? Will I miss something important on Fox News during my shower? And why do they have turn-down service? Sometimes I just don’t get the good life. Everything here is designed to make you feel as if the rest of the world, the world that made this possible, doesn’t exist or, at the very least, not worthy of hanging out with the world of priviledge.

The view from my room

Well at least the internet is free. I get to post this for no charge.