rant · moment 4 of 14
On Being Broke and Stuck
from Bring Back The Mob · #62
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minTim reflects seriously on what real poverty and being 'stuck' feels like, talking about how some people never acquire the skills to escape, contrasted with people who have safety nets.
- 8:04Hotels and restaurants in New York don't want to hire fat people for front-facing roles like concierge.
- 8:39Tim found his telemarketing job through a Craigslist ad—the gateway to all great employment—placed by a man from Reliable Office Systems in Tottenville, Staten Island.
- 9:02Tottenville, described as the Mordor of Staten Island, is so remote Tim didn't believe it was a real place.
- 9:48The commute to the Tottenville job required waking at 5 a.m., waiting for the Staten Island Express bus, then ferrying to Manhattan.
- 11:03Taking the Staten Island ferry every day destroys any romance about being on the water—it becomes like cattle being led into a pen for slaughter.
- 11:40The psychological weight of the reverse commute: leaving Manhattan, the island of opportunity, on a boat passing the Statue of Liberty to go away.