In my August 7 post, I cited an eyebrow-raising WSJ piece: One Rolex for Every House: The Luxury Shoppers Who Buy in Multiples, in which we learned:
'When some ultra-affluent clients buy designer handbags, cashmere sweaters and $620 jeans, they don’t walk out with just one item. They get one for each of their houses."
The emphasis in the WSJ piece being on the sheer quantity of what these elites could buy. Also noting these are households earning $250,000 or more, and buoyed by strong stock-market gains, mansions and rental properties that have shot up in value in recent years, and a rebound in business dealmaking.
But we've also since learned (WSJ, Oct. 20, 'Eateries Pitch Water As Fine Dining', p. A1) what these ''ultra-affluent' can afford when they go out to fine dining venues most of us can only imagine enjoying.
These affluent elites can now also choose their favorite beverage from a "water menu", - say when they frequent 'Gwen's' in NYC, e.g.
Nope, you cannot make this shit up. These folks actually look forward to paying up big bucks to enjoy filtered tap water from the special menu. As we learn:
"Gwen's water menu, a detailed book with lengthy descriptions of each water's origin and flavor profile - includes water bottles from as far away as Australia and Armenia. Most cost between $11 and $13. It also offers tap water at $0."
But alas, most patrons are not interested in the free stuff. Way too DÉCLASSÉ. As we read on:
"Martin Riese, the water sommelier behind Gwen's menu, said the restaurant makes as much as $100,000 a year from water sales."
And from one contented patron, ( Magdalena Kalley) quoted in the piece, and: "wondering what might pair well with the $175 steak she planned to order",
before settling on the $13 glass of Armenian water:
"It was fascinating to see that the water with the lighter mineral content paired nicely with our appetizers."
Must be nice to be so flush with moola, Magdalena, but did it really taste that good? Never mind millions now face the prospect of food stamps terminating and scratching for enough food at food banks. And who'd be happy for just ten bucks to spend on a large Mac and cheese box with some Spam.
Not everyone is cool with the high-priced water menu, with one patron (Jessica Hammerman) saying "It's hard not to laugh at."
The scheme is really based on sophisticated marketing by Riese and another Sommelier, Michael Mascha who've "been working for decades to make the filtered tap water the stuff of fine taste."
In Riese's words:
"No one thinks it's strange if you served different types of vodka in a bar. So why should it be any different for our filtered tap water."
Uh, let's see: Because Vodka has to go through an explicit (and expensive) production process which ends up with actual alcohol! It isn't simply pumped out from a tap!
Oh, and here's the best three-liner :
"Riese instructs servers to treat the water like a fine wine. No ice or lemon allowed. Nothing that could dull the delicate flavor profile."
Please! But mere days before food stamps are cut off for 42 million, this is the bifurcated economic reality that now exists in Trump's America. It also shows the lack of proportion in consumer choice when one part of the spectrum has too much of the wealth.
It's one thing to buy water because one is traveling in the middle of an arid region - e.g. Nevada desert- and it's the only type on offer at the only convenience store. It's another to buy $13 filtered tap water at a restaurant because you think it enhances the taste of your steak. But really, clever marketing has convinced you that you're lower class if you don't buy it to have with your high-class meal.
See Also:
Why WE Have to Pay and the Rich Get Off Scott-Free
And:
The Wealthiest One Percent Get Even More Ridiculous!
And:
by Harvey Wasserman | October 26, 2025 - 4:35am | permalink
by "Thomas Paine"
President Donald Trump has announced that a massive new homeless shelter and soup kitchen will replace the East Wing of the White House, which he has demolished.
“This 90,000 square foot structure which I am building without any process or approval from the American people or Congress will stand as human history’s greatest single monument to kindness and charity.
“This kingly project will certainly win me the Nobel Prize, whose proceeds I will donate toward the expense of housing and feeding hundreds of humans suffering under the weight of the billionaire bonanza that is my regime.”
Trump explains that “throughout history, great men like myself have devoted ourselves to empathy, compassion, kindness and charity.
And:
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