quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

btw I used to go to that bookstore/coffeeshop a lot when I was in high school, and since then they did in fact improve the coffee a lot, including adding this awesome multi-lever espresso machine that I've never seen anywhere else (although they have one kind of like it at Blue Bottle) -- don't know if that was part of this kid's parents' investment or not.

Marvin Biver01/18/2012 07:47 PM

Health: 4 matches. Insurance: 1 match in the article. Having health insurance was mentioned by only one of the players in this article. I was amused by the quote, "to provide our own health care, bridge gaps in income with savings . . ." How will you provide your own health care if ("when" would be more precise) you need surgery--even minor surgery? Or routine screening exams like colonoscopy? One ER visit could make for a huge gap in your savings; one hospitalization could wipe it out. Going without health insurance is playing the odds with your future, and the odds increase as you get older.

I am about the same age as Ms. Edmonds, and I wondered what she was doing for health insurance, as she is too young for Medicare. Thanks.

I think $10k is about what you're going to spend on health insurance for yourself in a year, right? lol

Ten THOUSAND dollars?!?? Easily available to "middle-class" families to give away to one or more children? Not in anything resembling my experience. Plus multiply by number of children, hypothetically, because you can't help only one of them.

― one little aioli (Laurel), Monday, February 6, 2012 4:01 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

FWIW maybe not the literal median American family. I mean I certainly don't think my own parents could invest $10000 in me starting a business right now. But at the same time this is not a lot of money for a family business investment -- it's the kind of money an immigrant family might scrape together over a few years to help their son get a food cart or taxi medallion. It is an investment, not a gift, if I read the story right. Family in article sounds probably very well off, just saying it wouldn't be out of the question for a less well off family to do something like that if they were frugal and saved.

you guys need to figure out the "live below your relative means" thing, it's pretty awesome. fluid cash when you need it, discount chicken wings the rest of the time

Kids should just start kickstarters.

i got a note from our board president suggesting that we need to do a kickstarter for our 2.x million dollar company

it's the kind of money an immigrant family might scrape together over a few years to help their son get a food cart or taxi medallion.

do you have any idea what a taxi medallion goes for? even food cart licenses are pretty ridic in nyc.

I have a very good idea of what a taxi medallion goes for. I didn't say "$10,000 is the kind of money that buys you a taxi medallion these days."

Besides, the fact that it costs so much only supports my point that $10,000 isn't some insane amount of rich-kid-only business startup money.

do parents still bankroll weddings for their kids?? because if they do they are dropping way more than 10k i would think

waht. that chain of logic makes no sense. immigrants don't scrape together $1m so their son can buy a taxi medallion, they're bought by large companies. that has no relevance to whether or not yr average middle class family can make 10k appear.

we should ask David Brooks. I bet he could settle this.

"Hasler and his partners increased the shop's revenue in three years from less than $200,000 to $500,000."

fuckin' wow!

"For some reason I don't understand, employers seem to value having long-term employees less than they used to," says Henry Farber, an economist at Princeton. Farber has been documenting the decline in job tenure in papers with titles such as "Is the Company Man an Anachronism?"

I understand! people get lazy and crsnky and end up hating their job and employer and call out sick all the time if they stay in the same job for too long. because lots of jobs are less than thrilling.

xpost original point was that I don't really think getting $10k in help/investment from family to start a business in and of itself makes you some kind of spoiled non-success success story (completely outside the context of that article, which I couldn't even read), especially since that sort of thing actually does happen among families of modest means.

10 grand ain't the end of the world. but the dude also got an investment from a local businessperson. that might have been, like, a hundred grand or more for all we know.

that's reading a lot into the original post, though - I just said that inspirational stories that start with money from mom and dad are lolsy. But I think you're pretty wrong about middle-class families having $10k in liquid assets to give kids, anyway.

xxxp - also, long-term employees expect to be treated and compensated well. Employers are not fond of those qualities.

well yeah that too. its cheaper to cut people loose and get fresh meat every couple of years.

there's nothing wrong w/ taking 10k from your family, and it seems like he made pretty admirable use of it regardless. the prob is in the article creating a narrative of career-changing that ties it to success stories who quit their job on a whim to go apprentice in argentina and not...people who were fired. (the last case study is prob the one most relevant to americans today...)

xp

yeah they picked the genius 1% example. not typical by any means. makes for s better story.

the author seems to be 'on the right side' of the issues, so who knows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anya_Kamenetz

but 'some people work for goldman sachs and *then* they work for google, what a crazy economy' is like "..."

fast company is for people with money. or people who want money. its for a certain kind of person. let's put it that way.

they try to make tech sexy. and tech money sexy. look at their front page!

http://www.fastcompany.com/files/imagecache/listing_image_rotator/files/610-super-bowl-halftime-beacon-radio-twitter.jpg

Web Geek On Wire Goes Wild With Milf!

carrot top's hair looks less orange than usual

Guys, I read some Fast Company articles I quite liked a few months ago and like their design blog (maybe I should put quotes around "design") so I got a cheapass subscription and now I'm having second thoughts

are you... agonizing over it?

Ooh, good question

also not nyt but lol

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46297528/

5. Be sexy.

*takes notes*

11. Be a lady in the street but a freak in the sheets.

Wall Street men tend to like women who are attractive

So, don't let him talk about work but know all about his work so you can talk about it, be sexy but not slutty, be conventionally pretty, don't talk too much, and don't be upset if your date is a total asshole.

Easy breezy!

Also the same as every list of dubious pointers abt how to catch a man.

Samantha :

You forgot to mention that these type of women need to understand that they WILL be cheated upon, with just about everyone the can...just because they have money that they steal from the rest of us and have the time...trust me, I know many bankers in NYC who were partying or with other women while they were telling there wives/girlfirends they were at work, meeting ,etc...if they dont pick up the phone for hours is because they are CHEATING !!!!!!!!

or they are the star of Breaking Bad.

13. Bring cocaine. Lots of cocaine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agro8r4nyGQ

dateing douchecanoes in 10 easy steps

* dating

how does one clean a douchecanoe?

you dont clean them, iirc. i think it's like cast iron frying pans, the dirt is part of the "charm"

Well-seasoned douchecanoe seeks quiet doormat with just the right amount of sluttiness for LTR

*to craigslist!*

lol @ extravagant gifts

"A solid gold shoehorn?! Oh, Wall Street man! You're the best!"

Who care if you're constantly at work or texting on your phone, I got a Tiffany key chain!

TBF, if you're already reading an article called "How to Date a Wall Street Man" isn't that kind of what you're going for?

True.