Mountain town elite

People who live in mountain towns inevitably come in contact with the rich, affluent and famous. It has multiple impact on that population, in different ways and at various degrees.

If your work puts you in some advantageous contact with these folks where your skills make you extremely useful or indispensable to them (i.e. you're a ski instructor, a mountain guide, a realtor or a doctor) they are more likely to level with you and even make you feel as if they were equal to you.

If on the other end you assume a lowly service function, they may (no guarantee!) be nice to you, condescending enough, tip you well and in many more ways than one, make your day. No guarantees, but it can happen. In many ways, and the higher up you stand on this prestigious "totem pole," the more you will feel that you're included, that you're almost just like them and part of the family.

Just beware though; don't ever take all that for granted, as easy as these impressions can be made on you, the fact of the matter remains that at the end of day, the vacation and the line, you are still you, they are still them and the divide remains.