UNITED STATES—We hear it time and time again, that the rich live a lifestyle that is extravagantly different from the poor. Is this a column that is going to pit the rich against the poor? No, this is a column to address the personality clash of those with an abundance of money and those without it.

One can argue with me all day on this issue, but I’m not going to shake the notion that there are those with money who frown or behave in a manner that is unacceptable in my opinion.

I have literally seen people jump when someone with money arrives. Note, this is someone who tends to boisterous and not shy to express their true feelings, but wait, when a person they know arrives with a boatload of money let the butt-kissing begin. Like seriously? I can care less how much money a person has, not for a penny would I sell my soul to the Devil to have a portion of their wealth.

Do we really need to stoop that low to prove a point? I mean the rich person I know has a way of attempting to be down to Earth, but with the snap of a finger she allows her true colors to shine. Who dismisses someone at a restaurant because the waitress needed a bit more time to take care of a large party? I seriously had to stop for a second to catch myself from saying something that I couldn’t take back.

No matter how much money you have, it does not give you the right to be a jack*** because you want to be. Everyone should be treated with equal respect, but in the world we live in we place people with money on pedestals and everyone else is below them. That is indeed a problem, and it’s a direct result of the media constantly placing people in the spotlight of the world of celebrity and putting them in an elitism category which very few can obtain. No matter how much we’d like to think celebrities are just like the average Joe, they’re not. Hence, the term celebrity, and with that comes money.

Those who may not be celebrities, but have loads of money tend to want that spotlight placed upon them. Instead of it being massively public, it revolves around those closest to them; their family members, their friends, and perhaps their occurrences with the everyday person.

What concerns me the most is to see those people who are normal under most circumstances, do a complete 360 with their behavior in the presence of someone who they thinks live on water. Why does money cause so many of us to behave badly? No, I can’t point the finger at every single person who is rich as being evil, because making that assumption would be just dangerous. However, we need to acknowledge that just because one has money, does not give them the right to demand or expect things that we are all entitled too!

Money is just that; a tradeable commodity that brings out the best and the worst in most of us. Perhaps, if money ceased to exist it would open the door to people showing their true colors. Not showcasing who they want to be in the presence of hundreds, thousands, million or billions of dollars.