Easy There, Richie Rich...

So, I was watching the horse race last Saturday (I picked the wrong horse... who could have guessed my system of picking whichever horse is #6 was, in fact, quite wrong) and they were talking about the horses that were own by some Saudi Arabian princes and the way that they had to specially fly the horses over for the race. This got me to thinking: these guys are billionaires. Multi-billionaires, probably. But, do you think they ever get to the point where they are like, "Yeah, I'm not paying for that?"

As is often the case with people who do not have great wealth, I'm fascinated by those that do. I'm curious if people who have more money than they could ever spend in a lifetime reach a point when they still have that internal voice that says, "that's too much money." Like, do you think Oprah ever reaches a point where she sees something she wants, but tells herself to wait until it's on sale? I mean, she wasn't born into money, had to save every nickle and dime she made when she was starting out, but do you think she now has decided that she's saved long enough? Does Bill Gates uses coupons when he goes food shopping? Does he even do his own food shopping?

Now, as for these Saudi Arabian Princes, I highly doubt that they have that voice in their head. They grew up in palaces, have always had servants so I doubt they ever really knew the value of a dollar. I just think it would be funny to have heard this conversation in the stables before they put the horses on the plane:

Prince: Are you sure I needed to buy a jumbo jet just for this trip?
Horse Trainer: Oh, absolutely. These are delicate animals. Can't ship them just freight. Ok, your Highness. We've got the special harnesses for the horses during the flight...
Prince: Yes, of course, very necessary.
Horse Trainer: Then we've got special feed that they need to keep them in running form.
Prince: Sure, sure.
Horse Trainer: Then we've got my staff of 6 to monitor them on the trip...
Prince: Six? I mean, it's only two horses...
Horse Trainer: Add to that the band we booked for in-flight entertainment.
Prince: I don't remember agreeing to that.
Horse Trainer: Don't worry, you did. Also we have treadmill for the horses to train while in-flight.
Prince: It just seems like some of this stuff is unnecessary...
Horse Trainer: Then we've got the system to extra filter their water. They love water that's extra filtered.
Prince: Wait, extra filtered water? I mean, jees... it's a horse. Can't you just use water from a hose?... I'm just saying, this all seems very expensive.

-On an unrelated note: Really, Mets fans? Billy Buckner chants? Is that the best you're gonna do this weekend? Really? I expected better. You let me down.