Shopper's Paradise

Flicking through the channels the other night, I was unfortunate enough to stumble across a program called "Flash Families". We watched for a couple of minutes (that was enough). The concept was basically the idea of some families who like to "flash their cash"; conspicuous consumerism, essentially.

It appeared that some of the families had lots of money and spent it. Fair enough. However, the one family we saw on the program live in a 2-bedroom council house. They have five children, and the mother and several of the children have to sleep on a mattress and sofas in the living room. First thought - how terrible for them. Second thought - why "flash family"?

Answer: they spend all their money on designer clothes for the mother and the kids. The attic is full of discarded designer clothes (they don't even have the good grace to pass these on to charity). They "need" these clothes - and they're not rip-offs, that wouldn't be good form. So they can't afford the real necessities of life.

Children sharing beds or sleeping on the floor harks back to a day of real, actual poverty. These people are not poor - just incredibly selfish. My heart goes out to the children - let's hope that at some stage they learn the value of money, which is more than the cost of a Louis Vuitton bag.