Bill Gates, patron saint of "the Yawns"

Who are "the Yawns"? They're the young and wealthy but normal. Be-sweatered Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is their patron saint, according to Robert Frank of the WSJ's Wealth Report. This boring single-prop set prize their charity foundations, recycled t-shirts and charity bracelets as their favorite status symbols. They drive hybrid cars. And the pandemic is spreading, reports the AP's Evelyen Nieves. She profiles San Francisco's Rik Wehbring, for an example. A perfectly healthy "37-year-old dot.com millionaire" Wehbring, despite his wealth, limits himself to living on $50,000 a year. Nieves reports he "doesn't own a television, his mp3 player cost $20 ("and it works just fine") and he drives (when he drives) a Toyota Prius."

8:20 AM on Thu May 1 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
723 views
9 comments

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BartKela at 08:37 AM on 05/01/08
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Thirty-seven is young? Uh, okay.

Not owning a TV set is normal? Well, in some circles. Very small circles since the average American household has something like 2 of them.

Being a millionaire is wealthy? FAIL. (At least in the land where the median price of a previously-owned house is over $600K.)
matto at 08:46 AM on 05/01/08
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@BartKela: You're so angry today!
BartKela at 08:55 AM on 05/01/08
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I know, I know. Sorry, I haven't had my 12-oz. Zac-n-Jac'.
ifstone at 09:16 AM on 05/01/08
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It would be nice to see this take hold as a new ethic, especially as the moderately wealthy become more numerous. Of course, most "normal" people dream of spending their money on crap. It's a test of character.

My sister and her second husband are moderately rich, and to my surprise she's become a full-throttle materialist (and insufferable snob).
macbeach at 11:05 AM on 05/01/08
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I wonder how real the claim of not owning a TV is for some. I don't *watch* TV. There is no reception where I live, I don't choose to get cable. But *do* own a TV, used exclusively for old VCR tapes and DVDs. I could call it a "monitor" and claim to not own a TV, and maybe that is what some of these non-TV owners are doing.
BobDope at 03:16 PM on 05/01/08
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acc to Barron's, you gotta have $50 million to be in the 'beer and pretzels' richness category.
poko at 06:20 PM on 05/01/08
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@macbeth For what it's worth, I don't *own* a tv--use the good ol' laptop for all my entertainment.

I do agree with you, though. The other day it came up, and the person I was talking with said that they didn't own a tv, either. I guess it slipped his mind that we'd watched a movie at his apartment once...on a tv. I can only assume that he meant he didn't get cable.
poko at 06:30 PM on 05/01/08
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oops, that should be @macbeach
random_play at 10:31 PM on 05/01/08
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Don't forget the GASPs, the Generational Acronym Stereotype Promoters. Preferring catchy buzzwords and incoherent cliches to actual research, the GASPs are the movers and shakers of the trend-reporting world. They produce a steady stream of articles about the new breed of young, smart, wealthy, advertiser-desirable consumitizens who will, over time, behave exactly like the last batch of young, smart, wealthy, etc, acronyms. A scientist at a major university says that sometimes the past affects peoples' behavior. Some disagree, but many believe that two or three anecdotes, plus a bunch of weasel words, confirms a trend that will soon change every aspect of our lives.