When we gild ourselves with nice clothing, a nice house, a nice car, or an upscale education, it’s in part because people don’t know the real us… who we are, or what we have gone through to get here. These same people have more knowledge about the cost and the perceived value of these showy items than they know about us. Subconsciously, when others care, or at least are impressed, by our accoutrements, we hope that their caring and their positive impressions of our stuff translate into their caring and being impressed with (and not just, by) us.