V I P, yeah you know me

okay, not sure if this will qualify as a rant (doesn't everything i say qualify?).

anyway...i was watching a "look at all the money celebrities spend" show recently, and heard someone in the service industry refer to specific celebrities as "VIPs". these particular celebrities (yes, they're a couple) spend thousands of dollars on one meal or an evening out.

okay, i could spout off about the obvious "shouldn't they be feeding the hungry" rant, but i'm not gonna go there. i am concerned about something much less important, yet perhaps just as curious. i understand that celebrities get certain "priority treatment" because they are who they are...but is it really VIP treatment if they're paying for every cent?

i mean, yes they get into that one restaurant that none of us could get into (nor do we likely care about), but they're also probably slipping the "maitre d'" (sp?) a couple hundred, and tipping everyone else on the way to the table. so, really, they're only important because they have the money to back up their reservation? does anyone else see the irony of this?

if they were truly important, wouldn't they be getting it all for the low, low price of nothing?