credit to @j0hnwang for writing this on X
> be me, move to Mnhattan
> thought rich people just had drivers and doormen
> turns out there's an entire shadow economy catering to the ultra-rich: assistants, private chefs, security, manicurists, masseuses
> meet a 24 y/o girl from some random Midwest state school
> now a “family assistant” for an Upper East Side brownstone w/ 6 kids and 50 full-time staff
> oh_shit_the_stories_are_real.exe
> dad is a hedge fund billionaire
> mom runs a fashion brand no one's allowed to critique
> mfw each kid has a personalized on-premise team: nanny, therapist, tutor, butler
> she complains “I have to spend every other weekend at their second Hamptons house”
> like it’s a burden kek
> “ugh, I have to coordinate the helicopter again”
> girl shows me her Instagram stories from “work trips” to Aspen and Saint Tropez
> meanwhile she’s wagecucking $70k and splitting a studio apartment in Bronx with two roommates
> talks about “my boss’s driver” like she’s the one with a driver
> assistants act like they’re auditioning to be adopted (copium)
> they’re not just serving wealth, they’re trying to absorb it
> mfw I realize half of Manhattan runs on people who desperately want to be rich but settled for being adjacent to rich
> mfw the entire UES is just wealth theater with a supporting cast of thousands
> tfw the American Dream is now just getting invited to rich people’s parties and talking about said parties
> this city is Disneyland for class hierarchy
> existental_crisis.gif