Four Seasons of Snobbery

I picked up a copy of the Four Seasons hotel group complimentary magazine in a guest house the other day. Expecting to find at least a couple of intersting articles I was bitterly disappointed to find just a vacuous whos-who of the rich list. Who dines where, what they wear and how they get there - "If you don't fly private jets it can be difficult to get seats together"!!!!

The tips for travellers section was perhaps the most amusing (and shocking, in equal measures!) - no mention of visas, travellers cheques or mosquito repellent here, the most important items were deemed to be:
"Cairo - Must pack - For men: Lacoste karkis and Valentino jackets. For women: Armani jeans, Dior handbags, D+G tops and Plein Sud dresses.
Chiang Mai - Don't forget! - non-black Prada and Gucci.

It was all very fun having a dig at their total ignorance and misuderstanding of whats happening in the real world or their total disregard for cultures that have been around a lot longer than the latest fashion designer - "Avoid revealing dresses in conservative Syria" - is spat out from the page on getting from Amman to Beirut (of course no one would actually stop in Syria, or in fact explore Jordan or Lebanon further than their capitals). However, it is really shocking that these people for whom Cartier means more than Kabul and Dior more than Darfur really exist. Iw ould love to lock them all up in a room together dressed in clothes from primark and with a stack of broadsheets and copies of The Economist to browse through! The more society favours people like Gok One and Paris Hilton the more and more morally destitute our world is going to become!