'Tis the Season, Apparently
Want to curry favor with the president of Harvard and his wife? Well, here's one way to do it: Send them a gift from their Williams-Sonoma registry. (Follow the link and type in Elisa New.)
By my count, there are 35 different items that the new couple would like—and some more than one of—ranging from a $12 set of marisol napkins to a "Provence platter" for $199. There's also a wafflemaker ($59.95) and an ice cream maker ($149.95). Also, quite a lot of wine glasses.
Apparently the Summers-New household plans to do a lot of entertaining: Note that they're asking for three sets of 16-piece dinnerware, at $169 a set.
I am not enough of an etiquette expert to pass judgment on whether one is supposed to do this sort of thing for a second wedding (for both), or when the combined income of the new household is in the range of $750,000 a year, not to mention the free housing and the use of a car and driver. (It's almost enough to make one wonder if the new couple is expecting to be looking for new housing in the near future.)
But I do know that this kind of thing can lead to gifts being given for the wrong reasons. In Washington, they'd call it influence-buying, but in Cambridge, they can just call it ass-kissing.
Here's a suggestion for President Summers: Get rid of the wedding registration—surely you can afford your own ice cream maker—and announce that anyone who would like to celebrate your marriage with a gift could do so with a contribution to Harvard's financial aid fund. Wouldn't a gesture of pro-Harvard generosity create some much-needed goodwill?
On the positive side, Lisa New has good taste in homewares....
