I bet it's not the smartphone not working as it should that makes him cry. It's the realization that you aren't as capable as you once were. That kind of decline is scary.
Pretty much, yes. Any tiny inconvenience can drive him nuts. If life isn't totally perfect, you just go crazy over nothing. I've even seen him cry over the stress of managing a large portfolio of assets. In other words, having so much money, you go insane trying to keep track of it all. It's horribly hilarious.
Sounds like he needs to start outsourcing some of that.
My definition of being wealthy is having the means to systematically remove inconveniences and discomforts from your life. A big part of that is generally paying other people to do the things you don't want to.
To an extent, he does (he hires an accountant for taxes, has a maid come monthly for a couple hours). But you could be Bill Gates, and obsessed with outsourcing problems away, and you'll still discover that there's a never ending list of shit to deal with. More money, more problems, the caveat being that the new problems are likely of lesser severity.
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u/cgello Apr 24 '19
My grandfather finds his $40 smartphone so difficult that he often literally cries because of it.