It's okay if your parents have money
Summary
A straphanger delivers a straightforward take: it's okay if your parents have money. Stop pretending you're broke. Kareem agrees, calling out people who post Thanksgiving photos with elevators and giant kitchen islands while claiming to struggle with rent. The conversation spirals from trust fund kids to "Chicago rich," which the rider defines as blue collar workers with union pensions and a lakehouse in Michigan. Above ground pools come up. Then things get dark. Really dark. Kareem pivots to arguing that retirement is impossible, so everyone should just give up, go to art school, work at Starbucks, and ride it out. AI's going to destroy tech jobs anyway. What are you going to do? The rider blames this nihilistic turn on mentioning his above ground pool.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take? It's okay if your parents have money. 100% agree. I think some people don't agree, but I would say it's okay. It's not a thing to be awkward about. Don't make it weird. You were born this way.
Yeah. Also, like when you go home for Thanksgiving, we see the elevator in the pictures. We see the big kitchen island. You're not fooling anybody. Also, your parents are lawyers. They're doctors. They worked hard. Be very proud of them. They live in the suburbs. Yeah. It's okay if you have money. You don't—it's not—you have to hang your head on it. You don't have to be sad about it. It doesn't have to be a thing you keep a secret. You don't have to pretend you're broke.
Yeah. Be very proud. Just be rich and proud. Be proud and don't be weird. I don't like when people with rich parents are like, "Oh, I got—I got to pay the rent. I'm so—I'm so tired." It's horrible. Like, bro, I know you have a trust fun. I mean, I—I'll take it a step further. I mean, if you go like even like upper middle class kids, there's like a thing like Chicago rich.
What's Chicago rich? Chicago rich is like your parents work a blue collar job, but you have a lakehouse in Michigan or Wisconsin.
But how do they do that? They have good hard paying jobs. Like at the factory, you know, like my parents both work for the water department. They both have union jobs. They both have pensions. I had a backup backyard and above ground pool. Life is good.
Above ground. Well, above ground. Above ground pool is a sign of not wealth.
Yeah, I guess so. In America, to be rich, you have to have $3 million in your bank. Yeah, I guess so. Maybe, right? Maybe we're all screwed.
You know what? Give up on life. Don't try anymore. You're not going to retire. Work a job that doesn't take that much effort and enjoy life. Ride it out. You know what I mean? Go to art school. Work at a Starbucks. It's not going to get better. Make your art. Make your art. Have fun. You're not going to retire. Give up. Oh, no. I've destroyed it. You have a tech degree. AI is going to that up. It's like, what are you going to do? What are you going to do?
Isn't all of this because I talked about the above ground pool? Kind of. Dude, I'm drowning right now.