Dispatches from the Two Americas

Peter and Billy Getty over at City Brights write:

There are slews of people richer than we are, just in this neighborhood. We're more famous for being rich than we really are rich. But we have enough to belong to the leisure class, meaning we get to spend very little of our time doing anything we don't feel like, and we have means to sample, if not to gorge on, pleasures that most people, sad to say, won't likely ever share in -- things like yacht trips and safaris, ludicrously expensive wine, and private jet travel. You can be richer than we are, but you can't live a whole lot better without mere ostentation.

Meanwhile, Eric Sheptock over at On the Clock says:

I walked 3 miles to work every evening and didn't eat much of a dinner. (I work from 6 to 10 PM, whereas I used to get food from the salvation Army around 8 PM every evening.) Due to undiagnosed leg issues, the walk was becoming quite uncomfortable. There were days that I only ate 1 full-course meal.

On the 28th, I received word of a place that would help me with bus tokens. I went there and they were all out. The following day I was able to make my way to a computer and mass e-mail my contacts asking for help. Beginning on May 3rd, a couple of women that I know gave me a total of $110.00. I had actually received my 1st check on Friday, May 1st, though it wasn't for a full 2 weeks of work.