But What About Her 17th Birthday?
I admit it. I'm not proud of it, but I admit the fact that if I am stuck in the basement on a Saturday and MTV is showing that show about 16 year old kids and their birthdays that I watch it. I can't help it. I love seeing how the kids manipulate their parents, sometimes it seems to the point of breaking them financially and the way in which they treat their fellow students. Oh the joy they must feel making their guest list and deciding who gets in and who doesn't. Part of me is jealous that the only thing I got on my 16th birthday was a $20 check from my grandmother and part of me is just knowing that this is so wrong and so horrible, but I just can't stop watching.
Today in the Daily Mail I read about what I think must be a record amount spent for a 16 year old though. It was $400,000 for one birthday party and that doesn't even include whatever presents she got from her parents. The kid in question is the daughter of a guy who is worth about $20 billion so $400,000 is probably what he spends on tips each day.
Still though, it just seems wrong. Some of the highlights were the $240,000 he shelled out to rent the club Paper for the entire night. The gift bags? iPods and jewelery. The food bill was $140,000 which just seems outrageous. These are high school kids. How the heck can you manage to spend $140,000 on food for a bunch of kids who probably didn't eat much anyway. The tab also included non-alcoholic drinks and again, how can you spend that much when there is no booze in the drinks.
You could have just thrown out some pizza and cokes and I doubt the kids would have cared. The only thing they probably cared about was finding someone to make out with and trying out their new iPods.
At this point I think the dad has kind of set the bar pretty high for himself. I mean don't you think the daughter is going to even expect more and more each year? What about Christmas or graduation, and don't even get me started on her wedding. I know she probably goes to a school with other rich kids, but what if their parents have some common sense? Do you think their son or daughter is going to understand why they can't have a $400,000 party?
