That's rich!

That’s Rich!

When you hear that phrase, different things could come to mind.  For me, the first thoughts are Chocolate, Cheesecake, Cappuccino.  Or you might think of people, such as that “Little” guy who does impersonations.  That’s Rich!  And of course there’s what it costs to fill up a gas tank nowadays – too rich for my blood! 

There’s another meaning to the phrase “That’s Rich.”  I looked it up on UrbanDictionary.com.  It means, “when someone criticizes you for something that they themselves do,” or “when someone has the audacity to reprimand you when they are much worse than you.”  Very much like when adults tell kids not to smoke cigarettes while they themselves are lighting one up, or seeing the traffic court judge – the one who rolled his eyes when you said the picture from the red-light camera wasn’t you – at the DMV to get his own license reinstated after a DUI.  If you were to use “proper” language to express something “that’s rich” you might choose the word “hypocrite” to convey the same thought.

Hypocrite.  I found the word in the Webster’s.  It says, “One who feigns to be what he is not; one who has the form of godliness without the power, or who assumes an appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion.”  In other words, someone who gives the appearance of being “holier than thou” when he’s not. And you know what else? I didn’t see my picture next to the word.  I won’t say whose picture I saw there – he wouldn’t believe it if I told him anyway.  After all, nobody ever sees themselves as a hypocrite. 

As I was looking up all these definitions on the internet, drinking a Dr Pepper out of the 2 liter bottle and downing my Dollar Menu dinner, a younger family member IM’d me on Facebook.  We had a lengthy conversation about her desire to eat more nutritiously, and also about a couple of financial goals she has.  I made a point of mentioning some things that addresses both goals.  Things such as planning menus ahead of time for the week; cutting out the sodas; shopping from a list – if it’s not on the list you don’t purchase it; making it a priority to eat meals at your kitchen table with family; eliminating distractions such as TV and computers. It makes me feel good that she thinks so highly of me.  I hope she takes my advice to heart and actually follows it.  She’s young and smart and talented. If she’s diligent, she may even be rich someday!

And wouldn’t it be rich if that picture next to the word “hypocrite” started to look a little bit like me….