There’s a common joke here in the SF Bay Area.
How do you know someone went to Stanford? They’ll tell you within the first couple of sentences.
We Americans have a tremendous desire for status and prestige. When we work hard for something, it’s our second nature to tell everybody about our achievement.
You do it. I do it. We all do it. No big deal if we aren’t incessant about it.
But at a certain point, it becomes concerning when we start complaining about our struggles despite being in an extremely fortunate situation.
Let me share one public example and then my own as case studies to illustrate how unaware we truly are about our good fortune.
Dear Readers,
Given half of marriages eventually end in a divorce and wedding ceremonies last for at most 12 hours in America, it’s wise to spend as little as possible just in case things don’t work out.
To all the ladies in the house, you’re in for a real treat! To all the fellas thinking about proposing, maybe not! It all depends on how materialistic you are in the first place. Even if you are already married ladies, point your hubby to this article and you might just get a ring upgrade!
I’ve always told my wife that if all goes to hell, at least we’ll still have each other. After all, we met during college when neither of us had any money. We were happy just spending time together between classes in the Sunken Gardens at 
In the summer of 1996, I got in my rusty Toyota Corolla hatchback and took off on a five and a half hour drive south from the suburbs of Washington DC to a sleepy town called Abingdon, Virginia. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it because I had never driven my car more than 2.5 hours before.
One of my good friends is getting married, and he asked me, “Sam, what on earth am I supposed to get her for an engagement ring?” What a question, that’s not easily answered. Generally, the right answer is “whatever she wants!” However, as we all know, sometimes ladies are harder to read than a children’s book in large print!