Open my sock drawer and you’ll find at least 10 pairs of socks. No exaggeration. I own so many clothes that when summer arrives I must clear all long sleeve shirts out of my closet so I can fit in all my short sleeve shirts.

Yes, I am the wealthiest man in the world.

Say you’re in my bathroom when I need it. No problem! I have a second bathroom upstairs. There are more bedrooms in my house than there are people who live here. Sometimes when I’m buying toothpaste, soap, Twinkies, or other essentials I don’t even compare prices—I just grab and go, regardless of the cost.

There are people in CT who go hungry so pets can eat. They are among 500,000 who are food insecure.

This year I will take a week’s vacation to a beach resort, spend a long weekend at a friend’s house 300 miles and three states away, attend a professional basketball game, and fly to California to visit family in Oakland.

Just try walking my estate. You can walk 110 feet from east to west and never leave my property. You can walk 180 (one hundred and eighty) feet from north to south and still be on my land.

A record number of CT families can’t afford basics. And poverty is growing fastest outside of cities

My income is more than seven times greater than the global average personal income of $9,733. One time I spotted a penny in the road. I didn’t even bother to bend over and pick it up. My wife can drive north to meet a friend for lunch while at the same time I drive south to visit a museum because we each have our own car.

Even though my cell phone works fine and is only three years old, I may replace it. My wife and I threw out our perfectly good humidifier because we’d lost its specialized cord, making it unusable. A day later we found the missing cord but no longer had the humidifier and yet I did not gnash my teeth, scream my lungs out, or weep in my wine.

Why, I’m so wealthy I could have 10 people over for coffee and still have a clean cup for you if you came unexpectedly. You can borrow my hammer, screwdriver, and wrench and I’ll still have a hammer, screwdriver, and wrench.

CT trails nation in job growth. It’s wage gap is really big too. A new report lays it all out.

But as the world’s richest man, I can tell you that wealth is about much more than money. My unparalleled riches include luxuries like smelling baking bread, tasting pepperoni pizza, touching a baby’s skin, hearing the Blind Boys of Alabama sing, and seeing Niagara Falls.

‘Simply unaffordable’: What’s driving the high cost of living in Connecticut

In the spiritual realm I’ve made a fortune through prayer, Bible studies, week-long spiritual retreats, and about 2,000 worship services over 41 years. And people! You bet, baby–I’m rich in people. I’m blessed with a bride of 51 years, three children, four grandchildren, and wonderful people from work, church, the neighborhood, and mutual interests.

Part of my ginormous wealth is that I wake up every day with little or no pain. I breathe freely, feast on three meals a day, and easily walk several miles in a single day. (Not a misprint.)

The library at Tunxis Community College in Farmington.

With a simple card I can visit an attractive storehouse-like venue in my town and take out as many of its 50,000 or so books as I want. At. No. Charge.  On my desk is a softly humming metal box, screen, and keyboard I use to demand input from the greatest minds of all time. Aristotle, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Simone de Beauvoir, Jesus, Plato—they’re all at my command.

Parks, monuments, playgrounds, forests, meadows, beaches, hiking trails, rivers, lakes, and mountains are all mine for my enjoyment whenever I choose. At zero or zip or zilch charge.

With my almighty riches comes generous portions of hope, faith, peace, love, and joy. Patience, goodness, and self-control are part of these riches, but even I struggle with obtaining all the fruit of the spirit.

I routinely witness angels working in my exorbitant life. I see them feeding the hungry, defending the abused, giving to the poor, caring for the stranger, visiting the prisoner.

My status in this world provides me with representatives and government employees who perform all kinds of services and duties for me. Some of them make sure my food is of good quality. Others are on call and rush to my aid if I have a fire, accident, health crisis, or other emergency. Among these servants are ones who pass laws to make my life a bit safer or just. Still other representatives will listen when I have a serious complaint and render a judgment designed to be a fair resolution for my issue.

I’m so wealthy that people come to my house every week and remove my garbage. Others plow my street and take human waste away. With the touch of my hand I have access to fresh water (my choice: hot or cold) in three different rooms in my house. While 660 million people in the world don’t have electricity, my home has both lights and heat. At my whim I can drive on more than 2,600,000 miles of paved roads—upgraded, maintained, patrolled, and made safe for me at far less than one ten of one percent of the actual cost of those roads.

A cyclist crosses the Farmington Valley Trail Old Bridge in Collinsville, as he rides the Farmington River Trail as leaves start to change on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)

The vastness of my riches may sound unrealistic to you. Or (I hope) all this extravagance may sound typical and ordinary to you. If you feel the latter, may I ask: Are you the world’s richest person?

Chris John Amorosino lives in Unionville.

https://www.courant.com/2026/01/30/opinion-are-you-the-worlds-richest-person-i-am/