Tim's Le Cirque Sob Story and Poor vs. Rich Kid Trauma Comparison

• 51:35Tim's pool was only six feet deep, forcing him to dive out instead of down—a source of childhood shame compared to friends with 14-foot pools.
• 52:10Having to remember not to dive down in the shallow pool represented poverty to him and felt deeply shameful.
• 53:01Tim required luxury growing up, unlike many people, which he argues made his childhood as difficult as someone's who actually suffered deprivation.
• 53:52He begged his mother to take him to Le Cirque restaurant for his sixth-grade birthday—an attempt to experience fine dining and sophistication.
• 54:14The maître d' at Le Cirque was cruel to his overweight mother, and Tim immediately sided with the rude host against her.
• 54:38Tim recalls the black bass with wine reduction and leeks at Le Cirque, remembering the dish's simplicity and importance while surrounded by well-dressed people.
• 54:58Sitting in the restaurant with his mother in her beanie-baby-loving sweater filled him with shame about their status.
• 55:43His guest constantly lowers his status in every situation due to growing up poor and the insecurity that comes with it.
• 56:10Poor people are constantly low-status and being fucked with, apologizing just for existing in space.
• 56:30Tim criticizes identity politics because he's ranked higher to feel bad for as a gay person than his straight, white, poor guest who lived in a bus.
• 57:01Tim insists he had it worse because his expectations were higher—born into the aristocracy middle class, a nightmare scenario where a fallen soufflé equals drowning in a bathtub.

Le Cirque