Once a month, I indulge in a sugar covered coffee roll. I always get it from the same cart in midtown Manhattan. Most mornings, the cart is surrounded by construction workers in hard-hats and office workers in suits. The suits (including me) are heading into the tall office towers, for jobs at banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and law firms. The construction guys are building fleets of towers for people who dress like us to work or live in. Most of them are headed back to homes in Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn or the Bronx. There aren’t a lot of middle class neighborhoods left in Manhattan.
I know, I should probably be at Starbucks to keep the class divide firmly entrenched. But I like my coffee rolls enormous and sugary, and I still balk at Starbucks prices. I remember $0.60 cups of coffee from similar carts in my college days. I can’t bring myself to pay $5 for a coffee unless it’s a special occasion. Yet, that hasn’t kept me from literally pissing away a fortune on wine. The mind works in mysterious ways.
A quick nod is all I would normally exchange with the iron-workers. But I’ve been wearing a Bernie button for the past few weeks and carrying a messenger bag so I have something to pin it to.
Younger Guy: I like your button.
Me: Yeah, Go Bernie.
Younger Guy & Older Guy: Conversation about Staten Island street names
Me: Chime in with a comment about the name of the street (Dutch in origin)
Younger Guy: So did you go to the rally last night?
Me: No, wife’s traveling, I had to stay with the kids, but heard it was 47,000 people.
Younger Guy: I’m probably the biggest Bernie supporter in the world, but I’ve never been to a rally. I don’t need to, I’ve been hearing his speeches for years. I always wondered why they kept C-Span so boring, bad cameras and lighting, it’s designed to put you to sleep. Every other program on TV looks a lot better. But C-Span is about the important stuff that really matters, our money and government. I saw Bernie speak eight years ago and here was a guy talking in understandable terms.
Me: You know who else is good, Jon Tester from Montana. I started following him when he was on the financial crisis hearings. He’s got a farm-boy’s understanding of banks, and that’s actually quite good because farmers buy futures and options contracts regularly, so he understands how they work and could put it in plain language.
Younger Guy: I’ve always wondered whether there was anyone else around mid-town who supports Bernie. I figured it was just us, we’re putting up a building over there.
Me: Well I work at one of the big banks. And it’s just like any other place. 20% support Trump…
Younger Guy: That’s crazy.
Me: And maybe 20-25% support Bernie and the rest are split between Hillary and the others.
Older Guy: The union really wants us to vote for Hillary.
Me: She’s got some good things going for her too.
Younger Guy: It’s great that you work up there and support Bernie, shows intellignce. We’re going make sure she doesn’t win New York.
Me: That’s right.
My musings below the fold...