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Oh, My Gawd!!! by Connie H. Deutsch I thought I had seen and heard everything. Obviously not. In the news is this unbelievable story of a 43'-gold Christmas tree, purchased for an Abu Dhabi luxury hotel for a mere $11 million U.S. dollars. I don't care how rich you are . . . Who buys a Christmas tree for $11 million dollars?? But this is no ordinary tree. It is adorned with gold, rubies, diamonds, and other precious stones from their hotel jeweler. The Emirates Palace Hotel must be under some heavy criticism because it is now trying to distance itself from this ostentatious display of wealth by blaming the hotel jeweler for this obscene waste of money. Management is saying the hotel-based jeweler was solely responsible for creating and decorating the tree and that the hotel is just a venue for exhibiting the tree. I was born at night but it wasn't last night. No jeweler acts on his own authority to spend $11 million dollars of the hotel's money for a Christmas tree, no matter what the budget is. Plain and simple, the owners are playing the blame game and not taking responsibility for their own actions. I feel sorry for that poor jeweler who will now have to bear the stigma of such a costly mistake. Every year, from now on, people around the world will forever link his name with the gold Christmas tree that could have fed a Third World Country. This spectacular waste of money comes at a time when millions of people around the world are struggling to put food on their table and put a roof over their head, when huge numbers of people are unemployed and losing hope of ever having financial security. It is also just the kind of story that underscores the perception that the wealthy care more about their baubles than they do their neighbors. It would not be surprising if this Christmas tree story incites violence among the struggling poor in that part of the world. There is so much anger and resentment bubbling up inside people these days that we are bound to see outbreaks of the barbaric behavior of mobs. Look at what just happened in the UK when hordes of students, enraged over the tripling of university fees newly voted on by Parliament, attacked Prince Charles's Rolls-Royce and threw paint against the windshield, as he and Camilla were on their way to a charity ball. This should be a happy time of year. The spirit of giving and sharing, people singing Christmas carols, chestnuts roasting on an open fire as the song goes, a feeling of bonhomie for one and all . . . and yet, this is often the saddest time of the year with people feeling isolated and alone. I've decided that in my next life I want to feel good at this time of year. I want to feel adored by one and all and put on display for everyone to admire. You guessed it. I want to come back as a Christmas tree in the Emirates Palace Hotel and I want to be decorated by their hotel jeweler. I don't do faux anything so I plan on living long enough to make the trek to the hotel lobby in all my fine fur needles. If I have to get chopped down at the end of the Christmas season, I'll at least have lived a good life. Connie H. Deutsch is an internationally known business consultant and personal advisor who has a keen understanding of human nature and is a natural problem-solver. She is known throughout the world for helping clients find workable solutions to problems that are often complex and systemic in nature and part of a corporation's culture or an individual's pattern of behavior. Connie has hosted her own weekly radio show, been a weekly guest on a morning radio show, done guest spots on radio shows around the country, and appeared as a guest on a cable television show. Connie wrote a weekly newspaper Advice Column for sixteen years and has been invited to speak at local colleges and given lectures around the country. She also wrote the scripts for a weekly financial show on cable television. Connie is the author of the books, "Whispers of the Soul," "A Slice of Life," and "The Counseling Effect," and is the co-author of an eBook, "Getting Rich While the World Falls Apart" which is being offered as a free download on her website. She has also written and produced two CDs on Meditation and Relationships and has done coaching on customer service and employee relationships. Her website is http://www.conniehdeutsch.com See more of her articles by clicking here ConnieHDeutsch Articles
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