Lisa Miller posed a pretty interest question in her most recent piece for New York Magazine, “The Money-Empathy Gap” – Does money make you mean?
I’m gonna be honest – I wish I knew. I’m not really in a position to be mean to people yet. Don’t get me wrong – I’m doing everything I can to get rich so we can find out. And just in case it works out, I’ve been practicing all of my best “rich person” moves:
I bought a CD on iTunes. I’ve been going to restaurants and demanding better tables. I’ve been pretending I have DVR by watching Hardball at 5, and then again at 7pm. I rooted for the Heat. I asked a hot dog guy in Central Park if his menu was “ala cart.” I write my name with an accent over the “i” and the “u” with an umlaut now. I ordered a bottled beer. I’ve been telling people to “reach out to my assistant” – and giving them Steve Kornacki’s phone number. I only eat ‘local’ now – from the Rite Aid or the pizza place on my block. I’ve completely given up wearing socks. I saw Spiderman in 3D and returned the glasses. I finally asked what 401K meant, just to confirm I don’t have one. I had “brunch”. I write for Salon. I’m sorry, I misspoke. I write for a salon. And right now they have a RIDICULOUS deal on highlights. I haven’t visited Queens in weeks, but I’m referring to Brooklyn exclusively as “The Country.” I’ve started calling my neighborhood (East Harlem) “EasHa.” I make my friends call me “N.K.” (my middle name is Kennedy). I leave positive Yelp reviews. Wait a second – I may be changing my LAST name to Kennedy… I’ll get back to you on that one. I refer to any group larger than 3 as “The American People.” I’m wearing one of the U.S. Olympic Berets. And I’ve gone back to just calling them ‘plates’ … because it’s time to get tough on china. I play water Polo, and air Lacoste.
Anyway – you’re probably wondering: What does this have to do with yesterday’s segment? Well I don’t really know… but Lisa Miller was excellent, and I produced the segment, as well as the tape piece of our hosts taking taking a money/niceness/ethics test that appears in the middle. So check it out and let us know what you think.
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