Rich to be poor, poor to be rich

I just bumped into a guy who works as a park ranger during the summer. His job consists of floating rivers in a small rubber raft to make sure tourists behave as they’re paddling downstream; not littering, not leaving a visible fire pit, not leaving any trace of human existence at all. If he sees such a trace, he’ll stop, clean it up, and hunt the perps down to slap them with a hefty fine. Apparently it's the park's biggest selling point, true wilderness, some of the last on earth, he says. Because of this everybody who goes up there are entitled to the true Louis and Clark experience, and the illusion of setting foot where no man has stepped before. He, in turn, acts as the park maid.

One of the biggest reasons the park needs maids like him is that people will spend thousands of dollars to be able to go wild and live free. Travel to Alaska, get all the necessities for weeks on a river, get to base camp, fly to be dropped off at the mouth of a river, overweight on equipment, and finally the trip home. Apparently most folks spend about $6000.00 for the experience of essentially living where money has no meaning. Bears will take anything but credit cards. They'll spend thousands and thousands of dollars to find out what it's like to live off the land and be poor. Luxurious living indeed.