Banker Happy to No Longer Be a Banker
Banking is fucking brutal. I knew this after my internship, but I didn’t care. I wanted money. I wanted respect. I wanted to be a somebody in the eyes of myself and others. But most of all, I wanted money. Why? Because money is freedom. Money means I can wear what I want, live where I want, go where I want, eat what I want, be who I want. Money would make me happy. Right? Well… not exactly I’m afraid. In fact, money didn’t seem to make any of the bankers happy. Not one person in the roughly 200 I got to know in banking were happy. Yet all earned multiples of the national average salary.
—Stephen Ridley was a young i-banker in London, and he was miserable. He quit one day and became a musician, which I’m sure you can learn all about in the movie that will come out in two-to-four years, but for now, you should read this essay he wrote on the website Wall Street Oasis (lol) about why he quit. Turns out banking wasn’t that fun.
How Dream Jobs Get Lost (Ratings, Is How)
Here is some sadder news to start the week. On Friday evening, Lennon Parham tweeted, “BFF Fans: Wanted to let you know that our show is being taken off the air until the summer. Hoping to post ep 5 & 6 online asap. We love u.” To which, Jessica St. Clair added, “BFF fans: @lennonparham and I are so in love with each and every one of u – your support of the show means so much to us. #IamaBFFbeliever.” READ MORE
Department of Health Commissioner Thomas Farley is considering banning happy hours in New York City. I … can’t … even. What’s he planning on next? Permanently blocking out the sun with a giant disk?
My Last Hundred Bucks: Brunch, Bacon, and a Busker
$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. Where did your last hundred bucks go, Miranda Popkey?
$14: Pack of Parliament Lights and a small, red lighter at a bodega: I don’t self-identify as a smoker, which means that I am that irritating person constantly bumming cigarettes from friends. Occasionally I’ll be overwhelmed by guilt about this and buy a pack, which I then mostly give away, in the spirit of karmic balance. And then sometimes I’m a little tipsy and I’m with a friend who doesn’t smoke and buying cigarettes suddenly becomes totally essential to my quality of life.
$15.60: Late brunch with a friend at Brooklyn Buschenschank in Carroll Garden; I ate an entire pizza and drank a Bloody Mary.
$9: Jameson on the rocks at the Ear Inn after a friend’s art opening. There was semi-secret beer at the opening, but no snacks, which shouldn’t have surprised me. READ MORE
We Are Disillusioned, Frustrated, Angry Cynics (Yes, True)
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has a new ebook out—Beyond Outrage: What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix them—and he took to Reddit to answer some questions about it, and anything. His responses make for a good cheat sheet to The Issues of the Day. Some highlights:
On where we are at this moment exactly:
I think we’re approaching the tipping point. The real problem is cynicism. Most people know the system isn’t working right, that it’s tilted in favor of people with lots of wealth and power. But they don’t believe anything can be done to change the system. It’s the when cynicism turns to hope — fueled by outrage — that social change occurs.
I worry that so many Americans have become so disillusioned, frustrated, and angry — they feel they’ve done everything they were supposed to do yet are falling further and further behind — that they’re easy pickings for demagogues (on the right or the left) offering easy solutions and ready scapegoats (immigrants, public employees, unionized workers, foreigners, the poor, the rich, etc.)
Lindsay Lohan’s Confrontation with Class
Lindsay Lohan was at the White House Correspondents Dinner (of course she was, why wouldn’t she be), and Cindy Adams had this to report:
Lindsay disappeared a few times into the john. For a cigarette. Said she doesn’t usually smoke but is boning up on it to prep for her Elizabeth Taylor role. In the ladies room an elderly Hispanic named Bianca was cleaning the stalls. Tearing up, the front-paged blond actress felon said: “You’re too old to be doing this.”
She reached into her purse, crumpled a $100 bill in her hand and gave it to the attendant, who, backing away, said, “No, no, no.” Lindsay Lohan pushed the money at her with: “You’re too old to be doing this kind of work.” Bianca finally took it.
Okay, first: “An elderly Hispanic?” Jesus Christ, Cindy Adams (“an elderly white named Cindy Adams”). And Lohan: You don’t know a thing about Bianca or her circumstances, and to assume you do and that she’s to be pitied is gross. Don’t project your shit on other people, and don’t weep at someone because they have a job. Pity isn’t a good look on anyone. The tip was fine. The hysterics, not.
