The rich are different from you and me

Last night was my boss' going-away gathering at a tavern a block from work. There was the customary newsroom gift of a mock newspage heralding the departing employee's exit. For Adam, who heads to Melbourne, Fla., it was a doctored photo of the Baywatch crew with him as David Hasselhoff. But the best part of the night was our suprise A-list guest. I was looking out the door when who walks in but the wealthiest and most powerful man in town, Sunil Puri.
And he sat down next to me.
He was pretty much a gregarious salesman type, making self-effacing jokes and teasing and gesticulating and laughing the whole time. He owns most of the county and is building a $1.4 million house with Brazilian redwood floors and a guard shack. He didn't like it much when the newspaper wrote about his 17,000-square-foot mansion, detailing its six fireplaces, seven bathrooms and its three basketball courts worth of that redwood. But he was good natured about his disgust to us, mostly because none of the mopes at the table were responsible for the story.