some people just don’t get it.

I love the comments that I have received on this. It would not be the first time I've been hypersensitive and its helpful to have opposing perspectives.

First: Whatever you do there is always someone out there ready to be offended by it.

As long as your motives are clean why not tell the world what you do? If your motive is to shout "see how expensive reastaurants I can go to" then you really should think about it again.

Anyone can appreciate a nice dinner, and why not appreciate 3 of them. Just because a person cares about the homeless does not mean thay have to refran from all good things in their own lives. Having a good balance in their life is admirable and does not mean that their work for the homeless is of less value.

I think you are being sensitive. Is the twitter the persons personal twitter or is it their twitter for their charity? If its their personal twitter, then I think you are being sensitive. The latter would be in poor taste.

BTW, just returning from Jamaica, I got to see some VERY poor people and there is a huge difference from "poor" in America and really, really poor.

Interesting posts here. I can understand all sides to this. Yes, it is a sensitive subject, and by all means everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have no idea who this person is so what I type next may not even be relevant.

In this life we are usually privy to one side of a story. We rarely get to see the other side or want to take the time to listen to the other side.

We can only dictate our own actions. Whether right or wrong. We can only create our own perfect world and be appreciative of what we have.

Perhaps she is just really using the charity work as a front to cover up her true intentions of seeking fame and fortune.

Perhaps no one, up until now, has ever shown her genuine kindness or made her feel truly special despite her current position in life and she was overjoyed.

I empathize with people who are homeless or on the verge of being homeless. I believe most of the United States is on the verge. It could be anyone of us.

But on the flip side, I know a few people (none on this blog )that are without jobs, or on the verge,but have decided to do nothing to help their situation. I listen to their woes..and this is the part I do not get... They refuse to give up the cable t.v., the dry cleaning or stop the excessive partying. They refuse to take a job that has a salary less than what they are accustomed to until they land the job they really want. Instead, they would rather take the lazy route...collect unemployment and live off their credit cards and continue to play the sympathy card. Grrrr...grrrr...

Anyway, I am sure this is way off base and would probably be another great topic of discussion some other time. Just had to throw in my two cents. ; )

I love that this has fostered some discussion and different points of view.

I'm also curious as to how you (Laurie & Tim) deduced that I was referring to a "she"?

I think it's a "she" because in my world fabulous is a word used primarily by women. :-)

While I can appreciate that there are still some folks out there who can afford the finer things in life, I agree with Robin that there are so many families who are struggling right now just to keep food on their table and lights and heat on in their homes. It does seem extravagant that someone would need to have THREE fancy expensive birthday dinners when most of us would give anything to have just ONE special meal like that. So my problem isn't so much that this person had an extravagant meal, but more that she had to have THREE of them. And yes, in my opinion, if you are Tweeting about all three of them, no matter HOW affluent you might be, it does seem like bragging, especially while so many around you suffer. Just a thought.

I think that this is a touchy subject. Some people just don't realize they are hurting other people's feelings.
I have been out of work for 11 months, and I can tell you it means to "do more with less".
Just Saying.
Thanks Robin.

I can definitely see where you're coming from. I feel a little uncomfortable talking about fancy or seemingly excessive computer stuff (e.g. my ridiculous new phone). But as long as the person doesn't sound too much like he/she is bragging or looking down on people, they were probably just innocently sharing their experiences.

I think it's fine that they want to spend money on nice restaurants -- like you and Laurie said, it's their money. Plus, it helps provide jobs and income for the people that work there.

That being said, yeah, there's a perception issue. Maybe it's unfair, but it's still there. It could cause people to question her motives in helping (i.e. does she want to help people, or assuage her guilt and promote herself?). Also, it could make people wonder why they should donate their time or money to these organizations when others involved with them clearly have cash to burn.

So I don't think it's wrong that she's doing these things, but at the same time, she should consider the possible impacts of tweeting about it too.

This post has me thinking!

I don't know anything about this, but my husband and I just talked about this because it's so interesting.

Here's what we agreed upon.

- You can support the homeless and still enjoy really great food.
- You can share the experience of enjoying really great food and having fun without being insensitive.
- You can be wealthy, enjoy your wealth, and still be an authentic advocate of those in need.

I can see how these tweets *might* seem tacky or gauche because they're excessive, but I dunno, maybe she just had a great time on her birthday and wanted to talk about it?

I think communication can be so hard and Twitter can be so unforgiving. Maybe you should give feedback to this tweeter? Maybe you should invite her to do a guest post so we can learn more about why she chose to tweet this way?

Again, fascinating. Also, thanks for helping with my dinner conversation! We had homemade pizza in front of the TV. :)