Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

you're an idiot, it's not free, you are paying for it

Yeah ok bc people will just stop attending CLEs and lunch meetings if food isn’t provided.

Re-fueling at the firm allows you to bill more & more!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

Yeah, but the firm has a profit motive -- there's value in keeping the associates' noses to the grindstone, rather than having them pop out for their bagel and coffee or afternoon snack. I remember as an associate I totally thought the "free lunch" thing was a trap.

Right! That food is paid for by all those hours you're expected to bill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

you're an idiot, it's not free, you are paying for it

Yeah ok bc people will just stop attending CLEs and lunch meetings if food isn’t provided.

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

you're an idiot, it's not free, you are paying for it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

Yeah, but the firm has a profit motive -- there's value in keeping the associates' noses to the grindstone, rather than having them pop out for their bagel and coffee or afternoon snack. I remember as an associate I totally thought the "free lunch" thing was a trap.

Yes and no. It’s obviously for their benefit but let’s be real not every associate in every group is 100% busy at all times and bc you’re professional employees you can come and go as you please. Most times (except during trial and deal closing), there is time to go get a bagel esp in nyc where unlike dc you’re not walking blocks and pretty much every midtown building has a sbux/fast casual/deli in the building.

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

Yeah, but the firm has a profit motive -- there's value in keeping the associates' noses to the grindstone, rather than having them pop out for their bagel and coffee or afternoon snack. I remember as an associate I totally thought the "free lunch" thing was a trap.

How awesome it is to work in an office all day with free air-conditioning and heat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

+1

+1. Totally thought this in biglaw. Also -- when you travel for work -- which tends to be the higher end, white collar type jobs -- you end up building up points that can be used for personal travel/hotels/flights but reality is, you'd probably take a vacation anyway even if you had no points; meanwhile the type of people that are paycheck to paycheck have no chance for work travel and also never take vacations or maybe 1 vacation every 10-20 yrs is a BIG deal and they don't have anyone comp-ing them hotel or flights on points. Same thing for employers with per diem. Often it's quite generous and you don't spend much/all of it, which means you come back from a business trip with an extra $200 in your pocket, whereas that extra $200 for a secretary would pay for heat/electric for a month or two. And I've thought about this big picture too -- the more you have invested, the better you do in terms of growth of absolutely dollars in a 401k/brokerage account etc. bc of compounding. Someone already sitting on investment assets of $1 million on Jan 1 of this yr is up to 1.18 million right now, while someone who had scraped together $5000 in a 401k is up to $5900 -- with the 18% S&P return YTD. Yet that extra 180k "matters" less to the millionaire than it would to someone with 5k saved for retirement.

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

+1

That many public school kids could get into Ivies, but they don’t go because none of the Ivies offers merit aid and only the top 2-3 Ivies offer really generous financial aid to cover the $70k tuition.

Anonymous wrote:How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

This is really true! I remember traveling with my boyfriend in Italy in our early 20s. He travelled a ton for his job, so lots of points, but not a lot of money. We stayed at the Cavalieri in Rome, which at the time was a Hilton property, in this giant suite (points paid for it). Because it was an honors floor, there was free breakfast and coffee, lunch snacks, happy hour snacks, free drinks. Loads of free stuff intended for well-heeled travelers as a convenience or a perk. We called it breakfast and some nights early dinner! It was the perfect way to save some $$ for the rest of our trip, where we travelled like normal people in their early 20s (super cheap hotels and lots of pizza )

How many more free things are available to the rich who don't need them. I was fortunate to grow up UMC in NJ but I totally noticed this when I arrived in NYC biglaw. My law firm -- free breakfast every morning; lunches at least 2x/wk through some CLE, lunch meeting etc; cookies in the afternoon. All of this is in the "attorneys lounge" -- so not available to the secretaries, support staff, janitors etc. who were living paycheck to paycheck on 40k or less in NYC. We didn't need the free breakfast -- associates can spend $5 on a bagel and coffee; yet for someone who is paycheck to paycheck, that $5/day savings is $25/week that can pay a half a month of electric.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a highschool teacher and this week we had some career volunteers/ life couches come and talk to the kids. One guy made his speech about being a first generation college grad and did a list of "things poor kids dont know but need to." My kids liked it and there has been a lot of chit chat about it this week. I decided to reverse the topic and ask them what they think might be some things rich people dont know and these are some kid bits of that convo...

1.) flatbread is really just pizza. "I was so confused about that word but every time its literally just been pizza."
2.) its awkward/embarrassing when you associate having a license to having a car. "Me turning 16 means nothing, Im poor"
3.) We dont grieve not having a father. We dont know another family structure. "Thats like crying because I dont have a brother, when Ive never had a brother. No one does that."
4.) One kid thought it was odd that the people who have the most clothes usually have washer and dryers at their house so in reality they need the least clothes. "If i didnt need quarters to wash I would only need like 3 shirts"

I am going to assume that these kids are urban, right? In poorer rural areas, my experience has been:

1) WTF is flatbread anyway? we've never even had the chance to TRY it or even SEE it on a menu because it's not sold at any restaurant or store around here.
2) You learn to drive early (without a license on dirt roads) because you literally need it to go anywhere and if there's an emergency, families need a backup driver. You might not have a car, or a license, but you sure as hell can handle the basics of driving (though not city driving).
3) Grieving is pretty common because a lot of families know what it's like to have one, but lost their father due to poor health, drugs, etc.
4) Most people have washer-dryers but need clothing because the water and electricity are expensive and you can't afford to run the washer-dryer that frequently!

This.

I started driving a tractor at age 6. I drove a 34' trailer on my 16th birthday. I drove a loaded trailer to florida and back by myself when I was 17.

things my rich DH didn't know: that you cut the rotten parts out of food and eat it anyway. How do to...everything. How to change a tire and plant a garden. How to can and preserve food you grew yourself. Which wild plants you can eat and which are poisonous. How to hot wire a vehicle. That you should keep jumper cables in the car and know how to use them. A thousand other things.

You know, I wouldn't consider the way I grew up poor, but I learned how to do most of the above from my parents. They are immigrants, and this sort of resourcefulness comes with the territory, regardless of income.

And food deserts, while real, impact different groups differently. I grew up in a food desert, but we still ate healthy home-cooked meals, because many immigrants have an actual food culture that they can look to (i.e. know how to cook, how to do inventory management, etc.)...its poor people from a non-immigrant background that are most in trouble with this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During my senior year at an Ivy, someone told me that America was 40% Jewish and like 5% total black and hispanic.

No they just meant your Ivy was 40% Jewish

Actually they were probably from the NY suburbs. When I moved away from my NY hometown I was shocked to learn people in the rest of the country didn't get Jewish holidays off. Living there gives you a distorted idea of the population distribution in this country.

That's the case in most places. I asked my son a few years ago and he thought AAs were about 30% of the population. Meanwhile my Catholic enclave cousins didn't know Jews celebrate Thanksgiving and friends from northern Minnesota considered Italians "minorities".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich people don't know that it's difficult to eat well and healthily if you live in a food desert.

Or aren't rich.

Some poor people from certain cultures don't know how to shop at an outdoor market and buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Or how to buy bags of frozen or canned vegetables instead of chips and Pepsi and eat a Big Mac.

Yeah, because I'm sure you're willing to walk 1.5 miles roundtrip with your six year old in the dark after school to get fresh fruits and vegetables because she ate all the apples you planned to have last for the week, and there is no place close to home or work to buy fresh produce, and no time between putting her on the bus, getting to work, getting back to her school to pick her up to make an extra trip. And we do have a great, affordable outdoor market in the neighborhood-this past summer they set up 4 times, which isn't helping me now.