Why George Clooney Giving $1 Million to Friends is Insulting

Yesterday, I kept seeing this quote from George Clooney on my Twitter feed where he talks about giving 14 of his friends a million dollars. Along with the retweets of this quote were jokes that became played out within an hour or two. Thousands of people retweeted the quote saying things like, “I knew I should have hung out with George Clooney that one time.”

While yes, since most of us are living paycheck to paycheck, a million bucks from a friend would be nice. But, it’s also quite possible that George’s friends were highly insulted by the fact that he gave them money.

To put it into perspective, we’re coming up on the holidays. Thanksgiving is next week, and after that, we have Christmas. For a moment, let’s imagine that you go to your parents’ house for Thanksgiving, or maybe you’re like me when I was growing up and go to a friend’s house for Thanksgiving. Now, imagine eating that delicious meal, having some great conversation, and making memories.

Then…you hand the person who made the meal $50.

How do you think that would go? They’d probably be extremely insulted by your gesture. Like George Clooney, you’re trying to show your gratitude, and you think words can’t do it, so you do some math in your head and figure the meal was worth about $30. The service was…