Head Games of the Rich and Bored

Important safety tip: not everything you
find on the beach will be stuffed with cash

Hey, check it out. Some real-estate developer who made a ton of money doing whatever the hell it is real-estate developers do, hid a bunch of cash-filled envelopes all over San Francisco and San Jose and then tweeted clues about where to find them. Oh, and just in case you live in Los Angeles and were feeling left out, he went down there on Saturday and hid plastic Angry Bird toys stuffed with money around Hermosa Beach. You know, just in case the beaches in L.A. weren't crowded enough on weekends.

Pictured: literally the only thing you
 have to do as a real-estate developer.

According to the mystery cash-stasher, he's doing this because he wants to give back...as long as it's entertaining. He's quick to point out that this isn't charity and he's already turned down a ton of emails asking for financial help saying:

"Don't look for this to be a lottery ticket or a handout to solve your problems...It's not going to change your life. There are a lot of opportunities to make a living."

-A Real-Estate Developer lecturing

everybody else on the value of working hard

If you hear Batdance, run and don't look back.

Now if you're anything like me (that is to say, paranoid and delusional), then this whole thing probably reminds you a little of the Joker's plan in Tim Burton's Batman. Remember? He lured everyone in Gotham out with promises of cash and a rockin' all-Prince street party in the bad part of town, complete with scary balloons and armed goons and then, blamo! He hits them all with Smilex gas. But don't worry, that's probably not what this guy is up to. Probably. I mean, it's a little far-fetched. Right?

For the winner: a $50 gift certificate
to Chipotle, for the loser: death!

Anyway, I might just be cynical (might?), but the game strikes me as a little demeaning. Sure, the man says he hopes to inspire a global movement of people giving back to their communities with similar contests (there's already one in the U.K.), and his warning about not relying on rich eccentrics to lead you on twitter-based scavenger hunts for hidden cash is probably sound financial advice, but it all seems less about doing something nice for people and more about watching them jump through hoops for the amusement of the wealthy. 

Look, I'm not trying to tell him what to do with his money (ok, yes I am), but if he wants to give it away it seems like there are better, less douchey ways to do it. Like dropping it out of a blimp or something. 

Or, I don't know...fucking cancer research?