Won't somebody please think of the TARP wives
June 22, 2009 11:40 AM Subscribe
Q. And TARP Wives? A. And TARP Wives From the soon to be defunct Portfolio magazine, another look into the heartbreaking struggles of the subaltern. (somewhat previously)
They have my sympathy. Also quite a lot of my taxpayer money.
posted by procrastination at 11:50 AM on June 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by procrastination at 11:50 AM on June 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
I am certain this is not a new sentiment to express on the Blue, but I find it really hard to sympathize with the author of that piece. When the median household income for the US is $50,000, and anyone making over $250K in a year is in the top 5% of all incomes, the ludicrousness of reading someone complaining that they now have to say home and watch television instead of going to gala night at the Met is, well...
I really don't give a fuck.
posted by hippybear at 11:51 AM on June 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
I really don't give a fuck.
posted by hippybear at 11:51 AM on June 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
yeah, it's just like "damn, you just gonna keep living like that" and what can you say to that. Avert the eyes of the children; look away, look away. Don't even let them realize that's an option for anyone.
posted by boo_radley at 11:51 AM on June 22, 2009
posted by boo_radley at 11:51 AM on June 22, 2009
Unlike most pieces on the newly-less-wealthy in the New York Times Style section, the author of this piece actually shows a degree of self-awareness of the situation she's in, namely that hating her ilk is the new bloodsport, and earned or not, she needs to be at least a bit circumspect.
posted by fatbird at 11:54 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by fatbird at 11:54 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Totally bogus. A real TARP wife would have filed for divorce on the Friday before the bailout.
posted by grounded at 11:55 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by grounded at 11:55 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
But my fury extends...to Barney Frank, who cudgeled Fannie Mae into supporting loans to unfit homebuyers; to the rating agencies that were ethically compromised...
And yes, I blame those who were in charge of the big banks—including my husband—for not seeing the default tsunami coming. But almost no one did. Everyone knows this, yet financial CEOs have replaced the Mob as the most despised group in the country.
Same self-serving canards, different day.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 12:08 PM on June 22, 2009 [3 favorites]
And yes, I blame those who were in charge of the big banks—including my husband—for not seeing the default tsunami coming. But almost no one did. Everyone knows this, yet financial CEOs have replaced the Mob as the most despised group in the country.
Same self-serving canards, different day.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 12:08 PM on June 22, 2009 [3 favorites]
...we’re part of the community of more than 400 companies that have received government bailout funds, whose fall from grace has been swifter and harsher than any since Mao frog-marched intellectuals into China’s countryside.
Really?
I get it that I may not win much sympathy. Why should I? I’m not pleading poverty. We still live in relative luxury, we can afford almost everything we need, and we aren’t facing the prospect of losing our home or having to turn to our families to support us. But we are getting squeezed.
Yeah, that sounds pretty rough.
posted by sophist at 12:08 PM on June 22, 2009
Really?
I get it that I may not win much sympathy. Why should I? I’m not pleading poverty. We still live in relative luxury, we can afford almost everything we need, and we aren’t facing the prospect of losing our home or having to turn to our families to support us. But we are getting squeezed.
Yeah, that sounds pretty rough.
posted by sophist at 12:08 PM on June 22, 2009
"As you can see, being a TARP wife means, in short, making decisions according to a complex algorithm: balancing the need to look like your world hasn’t crumbled beneath you—let’s not alarm the investors!—with the need to appear duly repentant for your subprime sins."
Rise (or fall?) of the nouveaux pauvres. I'm looking forward to the well-phrased book ("subprime sins" has a certain ring to it), with movie options in the coming years, once we can all look back and smile, with one of those content that the worst is over sort of smiles.
But sometimes she takes it too far. "Choosing Versailles to host World War I peace negotiations could not have been more complicated than my attempt to select the perfect spot for our annual dinner." Maybe she can jump into the meme and we'll all laugh along.
"I get it that I may not win much sympathy. Why should I? I’m not pleading poverty. We still live in relative luxury, we can afford almost everything we need, and we aren’t facing the prospect of losing our home or having to turn to our families to support us. But we are getting squeezed."
Dear TARP wife, please refer to your dictionary of choice for the definition of "need." If you can pay for your safety and well-being, you're set. Roof over your head? Check. Food in your stomach? Check. Healthy? Check. The rest of it is just icing. People across the nation HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS LONG AGO, and you are still worried about avoiding the press while putting on the appropriate show. Suck it.
"Even the Octomom gets better press." And her own superhero name.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:10 PM on June 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
Rise (or fall?) of the nouveaux pauvres. I'm looking forward to the well-phrased book ("subprime sins" has a certain ring to it), with movie options in the coming years, once we can all look back and smile, with one of those content that the worst is over sort of smiles.
But sometimes she takes it too far. "Choosing Versailles to host World War I peace negotiations could not have been more complicated than my attempt to select the perfect spot for our annual dinner." Maybe she can jump into the meme and we'll all laugh along.
"I get it that I may not win much sympathy. Why should I? I’m not pleading poverty. We still live in relative luxury, we can afford almost everything we need, and we aren’t facing the prospect of losing our home or having to turn to our families to support us. But we are getting squeezed."
Dear TARP wife, please refer to your dictionary of choice for the definition of "need." If you can pay for your safety and well-being, you're set. Roof over your head? Check. Food in your stomach? Check. Healthy? Check. The rest of it is just icing. People across the nation HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS LONG AGO, and you are still worried about avoiding the press while putting on the appropriate show. Suck it.
"Even the Octomom gets better press." And her own superhero name.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:10 PM on June 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
"Even the Octomom gets better press." And her own superhero name.
Sounds more like a villain. I can just picture her drawn comic style with a vagina that shoots out ninja babies as she Battles Jon and Kate plus their 8 mini shao-lin monks while dealing with marital strife ala spider-man.
posted by delmoi at 12:16 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Sounds more like a villain. I can just picture her drawn comic style with a vagina that shoots out ninja babies as she Battles Jon and Kate plus their 8 mini shao-lin monks while dealing with marital strife ala spider-man.
posted by delmoi at 12:16 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
This year, of course, entertaining our crowd at our usual multi-star Michelin hotspots would simply not do. Extravagant is out; conservative is in. But not hosting a birthday dinner would have spurred rumors that we were broke, not a welcome thought either. Juggling these conflicting impulses, I decided on a slimmed-down party. Choosing Versailles to host World War I peace negotiations could not have been more complicated than my attempt to select the perfect spot for our annual dinner.
God, I feel for this woman! To have to cut into an exhausting shopping, primping, gala and charitable giving schedule to find the perfect balance between fancy party and slightly-less-fancy party is something no one, I mean no one, should be asked to do!
posted by Never teh Bride at 12:17 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
God, I feel for this woman! To have to cut into an exhausting shopping, primping, gala and charitable giving schedule to find the perfect balance between fancy party and slightly-less-fancy party is something no one, I mean no one, should be asked to do!
posted by Never teh Bride at 12:17 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
I just like the nom-de-plume of TARP wife. There must be millions of EITC Wives. Lifetime has a show called Army Wives. When will someone write a column for those of us paying for the TARP wives, the FUBAR families?
posted by allen.spaulding at 12:21 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by allen.spaulding at 12:21 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
bogus. After all that effort at keeping a low profile she would write for a mag moaning about it so she could get exposed for that?
posted by fistynuts at 12:24 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by fistynuts at 12:24 PM on June 22, 2009
Thank god I've never lived through the difficulty of keeping up appearances. The stress of deciding to host a lavish party and needing to decide between high end restaurants. Unimaginable. My heart really goes out to her...
I think it's going to throttle her.
posted by anti social order at 12:24 PM on June 22, 2009
I think it's going to throttle her.
posted by anti social order at 12:24 PM on June 22, 2009
Why did she write this? She seems self aware enough to realize that people hate her for her privilege and her husband's greed, although she still appears stupid enough to think that not going shopping and having to host a more humble birthday party is up there with the trials of Job. This feels like she's trying to rub her luxury and status into the face of the people who hate her for it while putting on a disingenuous facade of contrition. Like it's just a WASPy mind fuck.
posted by stavrogin at 12:27 PM on June 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
posted by stavrogin at 12:27 PM on June 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
Thank god I've never lived through the difficulty of keeping up appearances.
The BBC as an aging documentary about just this thing.
posted by hippybear at 12:30 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
The BBC as an aging documentary about just this thing.
posted by hippybear at 12:30 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
entertaining our crowd at our usual multi-star Michelin hotspots would simply not do.
Hmm. The local multi-star Michelin places aren't really all that expensive, relatively speaking. Except Urasawa of course. I suppose these people just pick the most expensive ones, being insufferable pricks and all.
posted by Justinian at 12:34 PM on June 22, 2009
Hmm. The local multi-star Michelin places aren't really all that expensive, relatively speaking. Except Urasawa of course. I suppose these people just pick the most expensive ones, being insufferable pricks and all.
posted by Justinian at 12:34 PM on June 22, 2009
This is by the same person who posts all those askme questions, but never answers any, so what do you expect?
posted by cjorgensen at 12:36 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by cjorgensen at 12:36 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
Reading the 160+ comments at Portfolio makes me very thankful for MeFi.
I wonder if the author considered what her life would be like if her husband had been allowed to reap what he had sowed (i.e. have the company fold and be out of a job) vs living off of bailout funds. Hearing that perspective would have probably helped temper some of the Portfolio comments.
Since she did not seem to be looking for sympathy, I have to say that I appreciate hearing her perspective. I am glad that her family did not split apart due to the situation and I get the impression that she has learned something from the experience.
One Portfolio commenter opined that the author should look into volunteering at a school or perform other types of community service. Not a bad suggestion. There was no indication that was part of the norm for her and it might go a long way into helping her better compare what happened to her and her family to the impact the poor decisions of her husband (and others) had on others. It may also help her not focus so much on parties, fashion and keeping up appearances.
posted by hrbrmstr at 12:41 PM on June 22, 2009
I wonder if the author considered what her life would be like if her husband had been allowed to reap what he had sowed (i.e. have the company fold and be out of a job) vs living off of bailout funds. Hearing that perspective would have probably helped temper some of the Portfolio comments.
Since she did not seem to be looking for sympathy, I have to say that I appreciate hearing her perspective. I am glad that her family did not split apart due to the situation and I get the impression that she has learned something from the experience.
One Portfolio commenter opined that the author should look into volunteering at a school or perform other types of community service. Not a bad suggestion. There was no indication that was part of the norm for her and it might go a long way into helping her better compare what happened to her and her family to the impact the poor decisions of her husband (and others) had on others. It may also help her not focus so much on parties, fashion and keeping up appearances.
posted by hrbrmstr at 12:41 PM on June 22, 2009
It also means we’re part of the community of more than 400 companies that have received government bailout funds, whose fall from grace has been swifter and harsher than any since Mao frog-marched intellectuals into China’s countryside.
The most horrific intellectual class pogroms of the last 50 years:
1. Post-Cultural-Revolution "Down to the Countryside" Movement, China (1968-1978)
2. Khmer Rouge Killing Fields, Cambodia (1975-1979)
3. Having Birthday Parties in Cozy Restaurants and Flying Commercial, Upper East Side (2008-present)
(Not necessarily in order.)
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 12:54 PM on June 22, 2009 [9 favorites]
The most horrific intellectual class pogroms of the last 50 years:
1. Post-Cultural-Revolution "Down to the Countryside" Movement, China (1968-1978)
2. Khmer Rouge Killing Fields, Cambodia (1975-1979)
3. Having Birthday Parties in Cozy Restaurants and Flying Commercial, Upper East Side (2008-present)
(Not necessarily in order.)
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 12:54 PM on June 22, 2009 [9 favorites]
Minor nitpick: Neither the magazine nor its website are "soon to be defunct". The print edition is gone. Their last issue was May 2009. The online site will continue without the "Condé Nast" in its name. More.
A shame the "TARP wife" article wasn't satire.
posted by zarq at 1:06 PM on June 22, 2009
A shame the "TARP wife" article wasn't satire.
posted by zarq at 1:06 PM on June 22, 2009
I actually can't fathom where this lady is coming from. I'm seriously considering the merits of temporarily living out of my van in order to save cash, and this lady is complaining that all her mac-and-cheese comfort food is making too much work for her seamstress.
I don't care how self-aware she is or circumspect or thoughtful or any of that shit. People are going to hate these TARP wives and TARP execs because no matter how many epiphanies they have, no matter how long the fall from grace, they're still never going to understand or be able to remotely empathize with the rest of the population facing hard times in this country. Because ultimately, even after "losing everything," they're still the type of people who are going to be able to afford seamstresses. They're still going to have a fucking New York brownstone where they can sit and watch television. They're still going to be able to have the wherewithal to organize upscale birthday gatherings. They're still going to have the social standing to be invited to museums and charity balls. They're going to have a private jet, even if they don't fly it, they're going to have summer homes, even if they temporarily aren't visiting them, they're never going to to rejoice over a fucking $1/hour raise because it's over a 10% increase in their income.
posted by Anonymous at 1:18 PM on June 22, 2009
I don't care how self-aware she is or circumspect or thoughtful or any of that shit. People are going to hate these TARP wives and TARP execs because no matter how many epiphanies they have, no matter how long the fall from grace, they're still never going to understand or be able to remotely empathize with the rest of the population facing hard times in this country. Because ultimately, even after "losing everything," they're still the type of people who are going to be able to afford seamstresses. They're still going to have a fucking New York brownstone where they can sit and watch television. They're still going to be able to have the wherewithal to organize upscale birthday gatherings. They're still going to have the social standing to be invited to museums and charity balls. They're going to have a private jet, even if they don't fly it, they're going to have summer homes, even if they temporarily aren't visiting them, they're never going to to rejoice over a fucking $1/hour raise because it's over a 10% increase in their income.
posted by Anonymous at 1:18 PM on June 22, 2009
I would enjoy her dilemma of living luxuriously while giving the appearance of frugality as much as a homeless person would enjoy my dilemma of refinishing a wall in the tiny condo I scrimped to mortgage. Pain is relative. However, I didn't write an article soliciting sympathy for my difficult home improvement projects.
posted by Foam Pants at 1:24 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by Foam Pants at 1:24 PM on June 22, 2009
I hear that drapes can be used to make a lovely dress if necessary.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:24 PM on June 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:24 PM on June 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
My god, what kind of funky garbage do they have underlying their comments section? Damn thing freezes Firefox every time.
Oh, and, yeah, TARPwife can suck it. Call me when you actually have to make a real choice that matters. You know...something like, "pay the light bill vs. take the kids to the dentist." Otherwise, STFU.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:40 PM on June 22, 2009
Oh, and, yeah, TARPwife can suck it. Call me when you actually have to make a real choice that matters. You know...something like, "pay the light bill vs. take the kids to the dentist." Otherwise, STFU.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:40 PM on June 22, 2009
Cry me a river and then drown in it.
posted by Legomancer at 1:42 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Legomancer at 1:42 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
I thought we all agreed that FPP's should not be articles from The Onion.
wait...
posted by mkultra at 1:58 PM on June 22, 2009
wait...
posted by mkultra at 1:58 PM on June 22, 2009
Instead of jumping on the bandwagon and making fun of this woman, I actually think I can muster up some sympathy. She's navigating a terrifying landscape where she needs to keep up appearances to make investors happy, and thus her husband's job secure. Except that her household is being run on much less money than ever.
Yeah, she has to "downgrade" to a life like the rest of us, wah wah, but unless her husband is a genius of marketing, being an "austere banker" is so far from cool and admirable that there's no way to swing it. I manage the same sympathy as I might for Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, where she lives in a gilded cage, but it's a cage nonetheless.
Hopefully sometime soon people will acknowledge that austerity and frugality are things to be admired in bankers and CEOs, but for now, the rock-star CEO rules, and the choice is to pretend you're still living large on less money, or lose your job.
posted by explosion at 2:01 PM on June 22, 2009 [3 favorites]
Yeah, she has to "downgrade" to a life like the rest of us, wah wah, but unless her husband is a genius of marketing, being an "austere banker" is so far from cool and admirable that there's no way to swing it. I manage the same sympathy as I might for Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, where she lives in a gilded cage, but it's a cage nonetheless.
Hopefully sometime soon people will acknowledge that austerity and frugality are things to be admired in bankers and CEOs, but for now, the rock-star CEO rules, and the choice is to pretend you're still living large on less money, or lose your job.
posted by explosion at 2:01 PM on June 22, 2009 [3 favorites]
I'll bet she can go to the doctor whenever she wants without fear of bankruptcy.
posted by vibrotronica at 2:02 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by vibrotronica at 2:02 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
Is there any data out there in regards to any tangible effect on companies based on the lifestyle lived by their CEO's? I mean, I know that when Steve Jobs coughs Apple's stock dips, but if I ran a multi-billion dollar company, and kept my shareholders in their dividends, would it really matter if I drove a beat up Kia to my 2 bedroom out in Queens everynight? Hasn't Warren Buffett driven the same car for the past xx amount of years? Or is this primarily a Wall Street "Big Swinging Dick" type of thing?
posted by cloax at 2:14 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by cloax at 2:14 PM on June 22, 2009
explosion: that's a pretty good point, and is actually the final conclusion of this TED talk about crackhouse economics. (Being that "the big boss has to be rich so they don't look all weak and shit.")
posted by hippybear at 2:29 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by hippybear at 2:29 PM on June 22, 2009
I think it speaks well of us that these folks have not wound up like the Ceaucescus or Romanovs.
posted by Xoebe at 2:54 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by Xoebe at 2:54 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
Instead of the usual "she deserves worse than she's getting, simply because she's so self-absorbed while others suffer" sentiment, I would like to examine the deeper meaning of this sentence from hippybear:
The BBC as an aging documentary about just this thing.
Shaka, when the walls fell.
Temba, his arms wide.
Metafilter, as an allegorical stand-in for Everyman.
posted by IAmBroom at 3:19 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
The BBC as an aging documentary about just this thing.
Shaka, when the walls fell.
Temba, his arms wide.
Metafilter, as an allegorical stand-in for Everyman.
posted by IAmBroom at 3:19 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
If your life becomes worse, you become miserable, no matter how good your life was and is. If your life gets better, you become happier, no matter how miserable your life was and is. Since you don't get to live other people's lives (yet), there's little point in direct comparison. I believe her; it sucks for her. Suicide, surely the ultimate expression of personal misery, occurs among the idle rich and the ground-down poor.
You can ask people to objectively assess their positions in life, and while this is a desirable occasional exercise in humility (and prompt to charity) for the rich, and an unpleasant prompt to unhappiness and resentment for the poor (although it can be a prompt to ambition), in neither case can it be expected to be done often. Envy is considered a vice, and ambition a virtue, for good reasons. This is the reason why sufficient wealth inequality becomes a misery for everyone in a society; it forces the poor to see how much better the rich live, to the point where they cannot reasonably believe that they could rise to that level of wealth themselves, and this provokes envy. Perceived social mobility, which is of course far easier to believe in if the rich are not that much richer than you, in general, moderates that envy and motivates ambition. Societies with less wealth inequality, more social safety nets, and more social mobility are happier, and in the long run, more productive: the top is not so far away that you cannot rise to it, the bottom not so deep down that you could not survive the fall.
I would argue that cheerleading for this woman to suffer further is, at the heart of it, an expression of belief in social mobility; if she can fall, we can rise. If she doesn't fall, this means we're stuck in it. It's irrational ... but it's all irrational.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 3:36 PM on June 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
You can ask people to objectively assess their positions in life, and while this is a desirable occasional exercise in humility (and prompt to charity) for the rich, and an unpleasant prompt to unhappiness and resentment for the poor (although it can be a prompt to ambition), in neither case can it be expected to be done often. Envy is considered a vice, and ambition a virtue, for good reasons. This is the reason why sufficient wealth inequality becomes a misery for everyone in a society; it forces the poor to see how much better the rich live, to the point where they cannot reasonably believe that they could rise to that level of wealth themselves, and this provokes envy. Perceived social mobility, which is of course far easier to believe in if the rich are not that much richer than you, in general, moderates that envy and motivates ambition. Societies with less wealth inequality, more social safety nets, and more social mobility are happier, and in the long run, more productive: the top is not so far away that you cannot rise to it, the bottom not so deep down that you could not survive the fall.
I would argue that cheerleading for this woman to suffer further is, at the heart of it, an expression of belief in social mobility; if she can fall, we can rise. If she doesn't fall, this means we're stuck in it. It's irrational ... but it's all irrational.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 3:36 PM on June 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
You know how the Christian fundamentalist groups have those watch-lists of doctors that perform abortions, with their home addresses, phone numbers, places of work, etc.?
Why doesn't someone do something like that for these people?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:29 PM on June 22, 2009
Why doesn't someone do something like that for these people?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:29 PM on June 22, 2009
Two of my closest friends lost their jobs in the chain reaction resulting from what those bankers did, and a retired relative has to cash out the IRA at a loss. I have no sympathy for people like this.
Her whining makes the case for confiscation & redistribution.
posted by univac at 5:24 PM on June 22, 2009
Her whining makes the case for confiscation & redistribution.
posted by univac at 5:24 PM on June 22, 2009
Is this part of some brilliant Marxist PR plan? This is so over-the-top I feel like I'm looking at one of those turn of the century caricatures of rotund plutocrats with a monocle in New Masses.
posted by jonp72 at 5:31 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by jonp72 at 5:31 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
<vocabulary nazi>I am annoyed at how she calls her giving her seamstress loads of work a "sinecure". Quite the opposite: a sinecure is a job where you get paid without having to do any actual work.
It's not just that she gets the word wrong. Somehow she implies that it's all gravy for her seamstress, who is actually producing something of value in exchange for a fair market rate.
posted by kandinski at 7:56 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
It's not just that she gets the word wrong. Somehow she implies that it's all gravy for her seamstress, who is actually producing something of value in exchange for a fair market rate.
posted by kandinski at 7:56 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
Nthing schroedinger,
The single most frustrating thing about this article, as far as I am concerned, is that the author of the piece seems to have no sense about the honest-to-goodness landscape of the economy and its effects on the people. Who writes this (?!?):
I drive the family crazy by switching off the lights every time we leave a room. Needless to say, we fly commercial. Using the company plane is now out of bounds;
Furthermore, to find solace in her belief that we are idiots...well, it is a statement that would merit outing her...
The good news is that Americans have short attention spans. Before long, some other group will come along to absorb all the frustration and anger.
Capping this piece with the "sinecure" comment just makes it all that much worse.
posted by Hypnotic Chick at 8:52 PM on June 22, 2009
The single most frustrating thing about this article, as far as I am concerned, is that the author of the piece seems to have no sense about the honest-to-goodness landscape of the economy and its effects on the people. Who writes this (?!?):
I drive the family crazy by switching off the lights every time we leave a room. Needless to say, we fly commercial. Using the company plane is now out of bounds;
Furthermore, to find solace in her belief that we are idiots...well, it is a statement that would merit outing her...
The good news is that Americans have short attention spans. Before long, some other group will come along to absorb all the frustration and anger.
Capping this piece with the "sinecure" comment just makes it all that much worse.
posted by Hypnotic Chick at 8:52 PM on June 22, 2009
I used to hate gold-digging women until I realized they are essentially a "stupid tax" for rich white guys the same way lottery tickets are for poor people.
posted by hamida2242 at 10:02 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by hamida2242 at 10:02 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
If the article isn't some kind of satire, joke, or whatever the author should be forced at gunpoint to burn her entire wardrobe and get a job at Wendy's.
The gun-pointer should also tell her "just in case you were wondering, when your co-workers talk to each other in Spanish they are in fact making fun of you."
posted by hamida2242 at 10:09 PM on June 22, 2009
The gun-pointer should also tell her "just in case you were wondering, when your co-workers talk to each other in Spanish they are in fact making fun of you."
posted by hamida2242 at 10:09 PM on June 22, 2009
cut into an exhausting shopping, primping, gala and charitable giving schedule to find the perfect balance between fancy party and slightly-less-fancy party...
stuffwhitepeopledontlike.com
posted by hamida2242 at 10:14 PM on June 22, 2009
stuffwhitepeopledontlike.com
posted by hamida2242 at 10:14 PM on June 22, 2009
She says she can still afford "almost" everything she needs.
As a fellow wife who is supported by taxpayer money, I would love to help her any way I can. My husband and I can afford everything we need, no "almost" about it- a 2 bedroom apartment, utilities, cell phones, plenty of groceries, two reliable cars and modest savings for the future. We can even afford luxuries like eating out now and again, vacation travel and charitable donations. If this woman is worse off than us, we can help make sure she can feed her family.
As a taxpayer-supported wife, I've also seen my husband stressed about his job, so I can really relate to that. It's also hard sometimes to live with the public scrutiny of what my husband has chosen to do for a living. There are a lot of critics out there.
I would love to give this woman my phone number so she could call me up if she needed any advice.
But it's not just me who could offer some perspective. She could call any of the other thousands of women married to US Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen or Marines.
posted by Wroughtirony at 6:56 PM on June 23, 2009 [2 favorites]
As a fellow wife who is supported by taxpayer money, I would love to help her any way I can. My husband and I can afford everything we need, no "almost" about it- a 2 bedroom apartment, utilities, cell phones, plenty of groceries, two reliable cars and modest savings for the future. We can even afford luxuries like eating out now and again, vacation travel and charitable donations. If this woman is worse off than us, we can help make sure she can feed her family.
As a taxpayer-supported wife, I've also seen my husband stressed about his job, so I can really relate to that. It's also hard sometimes to live with the public scrutiny of what my husband has chosen to do for a living. There are a lot of critics out there.
I would love to give this woman my phone number so she could call me up if she needed any advice.
But it's not just me who could offer some perspective. She could call any of the other thousands of women married to US Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen or Marines.
posted by Wroughtirony at 6:56 PM on June 23, 2009 [2 favorites]
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posted by infinitywaltz at 11:49 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]