The rich really ARE different from you and me

Among the many ways in which I'm glad Bush isn't president anymore, there are several that sound funny at first blush, but if you think about it, they're really pretty sad. One of these - perhaps the biggest one, actually - is that I can now usually tell The Onion apart from real newspapers.

Usually.

I saw excerpts from this article on Daily Kos earlier today, and before checking the link I was sure it was some kind of joke. But the New York Times isn't known for its sense of humor. (Maybe you've heard the joke about the world's easiest job: the New York Times comics editor. All you ever have to do is say "No.") After reading the article and the blog it links to, I'm persuaded that these gals are somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but also that they're somewhat serious about it all as well. For one thing, it really isn't very funny to pretend you're as shallow and materialistic as the image they're presenting. So they're probably sincere about it.

Disgusting, yes, but I found myself feeling oddly relieved after reading it. Of all the many, many times over the past several months that I've been glad I didn't end up working at a bank, this has to be the strongest case yet. The idea of ever getting anywhere near that community...ew. That's all.

The thing is, even if I did find myself on Wall Street, odds are I wouldn't have ever been mixed up with anybody like that. I'd have worked with them and perhaps gone out for drinks with them occasionally, but I'd never have actually been one of them. There's something intangible that means you're either one of them or you're not, and no, being a Yale alum does not automatically put you in the club. In fact, it marks you out in a big way at Yale - somehow, everyone can tell whose grandfather was a senator and whose grandfather was a jukebox repairman. Not everybody cares, but everybody can tell. And of course, some do care. The ones who whine about how busy their still-employed boyfriends are in the New York Times are among those who do, needless to say.

Thank heavens for my unglamorous but recession-proof job and for a girlfriend who makes slightly more money than I do!