Quote:
Originally posted by taxwonk
Were any of them investment bankers? Did they pull down serious bank? Because if not, then they're just proles like you and who cares what they think?
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Hmmm. One was a mortgage guy whose house the party was in. The other was the general manager of Niemans. Another was the most beautiful human being who has ever grabbed my ass.
Needless to say, they were all gay.
You know, one of the byproducts of having my entire social life centered around the arts is that the people I hang out with pretty much run the gamut income wise. I'll spend hours at a bar with an oil equipment company owner who could blow ppnyc's investment bankers out of the water in terms of his wealth, an artist who works the counter at Einstien bagles every morning who is over the moon excited about the fact he can afford $200 a month for studio space, a woman who is Beyonce's manager, and a woman who runs a PR company for restuarants out of her home who makes about the same as I do. Ultimately, our relative incomes don't really matter. Artists need patrons and patrons need artists. We all share a passion for art and for having fun, and we're all interesting people. That's all that really matters in a group of people with such disparate incomes.
I went to Hawaii with the mortgage guy above a few years ago on one of his company's annual reward trips for the top mortgage brokers in the country. One night, we went to a dinner with all of the other winners from our region, and the only thing that the bankers could talk about was the stuff they've bought since the last time they got together. Cars, watches, clothes, the additions on the house. It was one of the most tedious discussions I've ever sat in on. And it's not because I'm not materialistic. I'm a fan of beautiful things. I love great design, and I generally can't afford my tastes. But it was clear that these guys were buying things because they were expensive, not because they were beautiful or interesting. It was a competition for who could spend the most money, who could drop the most brand names. I was so relieved when my friend and I went back to the hotel and he told me how bored he was with the discussion too.
