Interview · moment 8 of 19
Growing Up in Dangerous 80s/90s New York
from The Pauper Is Just Working · #113
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minGuest
Comparing DC and LA as power-obsessed title-chasing cities, then Yannis recounts the genuine danger of growing up in New York in the 80s and 90s, getting mugged repeatedly, and the classic joke about being called a slur instead of getting beaten up.
- 27:38Tim grew up in the 80s and early 90s in New York, which he compares to Vietnam — a nightmare that only people who lived through it can understand.
- 27:57The city was just fucking dangerous. Getting mugged was normal; everyone he knew got robbed maybe 20 or 30 times and carried 'mugger money' so they wouldn't get killed.
- 28:34One of his favorite jokes: walking past kids who call him a faggot was actually a good day, because usually you'd get beaten up.
- 28:49Even the homeless people were way more aggressive back then. The grunginess of 80s and 90s New York sounds wild but there's no exaggeration in it.
- 29:15Tim wanted to become a Secret Service agent, but only because he had a fantasy of sitting at a bar in Miami and impressing a girl with his badge.
- 29:50He realized the whole Secret Service agent dream was stupid — just one dumb fantasy that wasn't worth an actual career.