It's about the Dating a Banker Anonymous (DABA) Support Group, which started out as a kinda sorta joke, but now, apparently, has earned the gals involved a book deal. It's hard to sum up their predicament, but I'll pull a paragraph from the article, and try:
Once it was seen as a blessing in certain circles to have a wealthy, powerful partner who would leave you alone with the credit card while he was busy brokering deals. Now, many Wall Street wives, girlfriends and, increasingly, exes, are living the curse of cutbacks in nanny hours and reservations at Masa or Megu. And that credit card? Canceled.With Wall Street falling on hard times, the high living wives, girlfriends and mistresses of Wall Streeters are finding that the little ultra-luxuries of life, like $750 bottles of champagne, just aren't flowing as freely.
They're depressed. They didn't marry / date / fornicate their way into these relationships just to be left with a high upper middle class lifestyle. These guys just aren't cutting it. And to top it off, a lot of the guys are topping it - y'know, kicking the bucket at an early age from stress-related natural causes, like heart attacks, stroke, and accidental discharges of Glock .40s into the frontal lobe.
So what's a gal to do? Why, form an online support group blog, put on the perfect little black dress, and head out and get hammered, and complain about her sorry lot in life to her friends.
You see, there's always a way out... out to an exclusive club in Manhattan!
On the one hand, I feel some sympathy. I know what it's like to have ups and downs, particularly financial ups and downs.
On the other hand, I'm laughing my butt off. I know that's cruel of me, but even living deep in the heart of my middle middle class schlubdom, I know three or five things.
1) Life isn't just like Sex in the City, even if you sleep around, look hot in your Jimmy Choos, or marry a wealthy jerk. The story arc of your life isn't predestined to have a happy ending at the end of each hour, and acting like it is, is a sure way to get yourself into trouble. The only things that give you inherent value are things like a soul, character, and love, and maybe faith and family if you believe in them. Handbags, cosmopolitans and nice shoes don't show up on your life's final balance sheet, even if they do show up on the balance sheet when you file Chapter 11. But bankruptcy court ain't life - though it's going to be your life for a while if this is how you live.
2) It's churlish to complain about how once you were super duper super wealthy, but now you're only super duper wealthy. Seriously. It looks really stupid and pathetic. Upset because you don't get helicoptered out to the Hamptons any longer? Bummer, dude. But really, how out of whack do you have to be to thinkthat a slight drop in status for the super wealthy - even if you're one of the super wealthy - really matters? Four words: starving people in Africa.
3) If the loss of a few millions has you questioning the grounds on which your relationship is based, then you aren't a wife or girlfriend, you are an independent contractor. I'll leave it at that, and hope that your ex-husband / boyfriend gave you a 1099 before stepping in front of the E train, otherwise the IRS is going to be pissed. No, I'm not joking; I think the conclusion is fair, based on this:
To be honest, I’m only with my BF because I just don’t have the heart to change my facebook status from “in a relationship” to “I ain’t saying I’m a gold digger, but I ain’t messin’ with no broke banker.”Well, she isn't saying it, but I will. Gold digger!
4) I am clearly not the average NY Times reader. I suspect this is an intensely interesting story for regular Times readers. For me, it's more like an exceptionally well-written and dry story out of the Onion.
7 comments:
The line between reality and satire has become very blurry thanks to this financial meltdown: banks going under, Madoff was a Ponzi scheme, now this. I mean, damn! You can't make stuff up that's this surreal!
Excellent -- thanks for the reality check.
Hmmm, perhaps I should start a blog for the super duper poor who are now super duper super poor. You know, "I used to be able to get assistance from the local food-shelf but that's drying up so now it's dumpster diving behind restaurants."
I would offer a friendly adjustment to your #2: starving people in America!
Great post!
#2 about not complaining because you are now only super wealthy instead of SuperDuper wealthy.....that's how the entire world sees Americans right now. Even if you currently lost you job, your home, and lived on welfare.....you'd still live better than 80% of the population of the world. Financial Crisis???? nah, I'd say a wake up call for a realignment of priorities....ah bummer.
Crispy - there's an article on CNN today where a woman is talking about 7% unemployment and saying, "This is the worst it's ever been!" Man, it's a bit rough economically now, but how somebody can be so ungrounded in reality to the point where they can say that is well beyond my comprehension. Just for starters I'd point out the Black Death, the 30 years war, post-WWII starvation in China and the slaughter in WWI as being, at least arguably, somewhat worse than 7% unemployment.
Wheeldancer, I agree with you up to a point but note Terrible Terry's point - for the most part, even the very poor in the U.S. are extremely wealthy compared to how perhaps 80% - 90% of the world's population lives. Studies have also shown that poverty in the U.S. is generally transitory; roughly 80% of the bottom quintile of households move upwards out of it within 5 years.
Can you edit the four words in #2 to read: Starving people in America?
Just saying, its a little closer to home than another Continent.
BTW the NYTs is drivel, so is the Wall Street Urinal...but the media sucks. Journalists no longer report on issues they glamorize ideas and hope readers won't notice its not really news.
Am I the only person smiling at the financial crisis? I've just crawled out of the fiscal cave of pain after 4 years of living on 2 minute noodles and credit cards.
As of a week ago my wife and I now pull down a combined $100k. At the very same moment that interest rates are at their lowest in 3 decades.
I'm just grinning at how fast the credit cards are going to disappear. I'm pretty sure there's a pair of carbon fibre wheels and a new track frame on the horizon.
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