High-End

One thing we've discovered is that since Cindy and I teach at a private University, we've got some rich kids running around. And I mean rich. Here are a few stories - all of them are true.

Exhibit 1 - Cindy is teaching her class - talking to her students about how some companies differentiate themselves from their competitors by becoming "luxury" brands. She uses Mercedes-Benz as an example. Her students are taken aback and say "Mercedes are for common people. Lamborghini and Aston Martin - they make luxury cars." [this is an actual quote] . Here's a shot of some nice "middle-class" kids' cars.

FROM RIGHT TO LEFT - MERCEDES, INFINITI, INFINITI, BMW, AND LEXUS.

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Exhibit 2 - Cindy is still talking about brand differentiation in her class and is explaining that Emirates airlines (one of the national airlines over here) markets themselves as a luxury airline with great service. The students respond with, "A real luxury airline is Marquis Jet, not Emirates airlines."

At least they get the concept.

Exhibit 3 - Cindy notices one of her 18-year old sophomore students carrying a nice purse. Cindy thinks, "I wish I could find that bag in black - it's exactly what I've been looking for." So after class, Cindy heads back to her office, finds the bag online, and discovers that it's a $14,000 Hermes. FOURTEEN THOUSAND!!!

So basically, I'm saying that while the girls are all wearing black abayas and headscarves, they're carrying Gucci, Chanel, or Louis Vuitton bags. They have designer jeans and heels poking out from under the abayas. The Emirati guys have Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Jack Spade messenger bags. Not everybody rolls like that, but definitely more than at any school I've ever been to. So that's kind of crazy. We've got preppy Arab kids. It's like the SMU of the Middle East.