Lacey: What the hell is he actually trying to say?
*She laughs*
Eric: Did you make caramels tonight?
Lacey: YUP!
Eric: He didn’t write that!
First of all, he didn’t write that.
And…he worked FOR HOURS on his delivery. Speech coaches. Analysts. Psychologists. Medical doctors for his health. He wasn’t a very bright man.
Second of all, *He cracks up laughing* he was trying to say that he supported labor. But he couldn’t just come right out and say that, because he had to seem clever. Part of it was his accent. He had a thick Back Bay accent, so everything he said sounded stupid. The “Boston accent” is cool…but it can sound dumb. There are a lot of poor people who have thick regional accents, and he wasn’t poor… but he had one. And people think being poor means you’re and idiot.
I don’t make this stuff up. I’m not the one who invented it all. Okay? You know that, Lacey. I’m just worried about other people who are reading this who could misunderstand.
So there was that, but he also couldn’t say it outright. He had to come back around to the point via speech patterns that were… insane, in my opinion. He always was making a joke. Every time he said something, it was as some sort of barb.
*He laughs with Lacey*
Now, what was he actually saying? He was saying that being antagonistic towards labor is foolish and that you absolutely have to support labor if you’re an honest American.
Lacey: But…out of historical context…this sounds bizarre.
I do recall what you’re saying, now that you mention it. The issues of labor unions. The “trusts America” as a thing, back then when America was America. Like, people would claim to trust in the glory of America but not in the validity of labor unions.
I just hate the way it’s worded.
Eric: So do I.
He’s so quoted, but I hate a lot of his speeches. I always feel condescended to.
Lacey: Why is that so popular? Do most people think they’re in his crew? So…he isn’t really talking to them?
Eric: Ha!
J. Crew!
Ummm…
No. I think, actually, people feel like they have to like him. Like they feel like they have to like Mark Twain.
But that’s just my opinion.
*Later.*
Laura: Yes???
Lacey: What…really was that miner saying?
Laura: *Laughs*
What are you suggesting?
Lacey: I’m wondering if he was very covertly insulting JFK? Possibly insinuating he was gay. And…effeminate. And…stupid.
What coal miner of that era would have been so down on work? So certain laziness was cool?
Or did they just make that whole thing up? Possibly to skirt the real issues even?
Laura: Ahhh…
Give me a minute.
WOW.
I wish Eric was still up. He’s more knowledgeable about this than me.
Umm…
Oh my gosh!
*She laughs*
Yes. Because…his work was his identity. That’s kinda part of the premise of the show Mad Men.
I mean…maybe not? But…I’m going to go with the affirmative. Yes, he did mean to insult Jack Kennedy. And the line, “Well, you didn’t miss much!” was another veiled insult.
I wonder if some people even knew that back then!? But they’ve shuffled around the facts on the face of it to seem like a great compliment to JFK.
Lacey: Like some weird inside joke he was in on with all of “working America”?
Laura: Yes!
Lacey: Why was the coal miner so angry, I wonder?
What’s the real story?
Laura: What do you think…the real story is with JFK and coal miners?
Lacey: I always assumed…he’d done basically nothing to help them. Maybe a little something? But not much. And that…they mostly just played that angle up to get votes.
Laura: I actually wonder if that’s true.
Okay. Next topic.
Do you know how many people have been mad you, in the perfume community, simply because you claimed to love Chanel No. 22? *she laughs*
Lacey: See…why is that so upsetting?
Laura: Because it was the wrong thing.
*She laughs*
It’s not a “rich girl” perfume. And most of those people actually do pretend to be wealthier than they are. Or they just like enjoying themselves, and feeling rich.
Lacey: I don’t wear perfume that way. I wear it more like it’s art…or…and…a cosmetic.
I don’t think almost any of my perfume was purchased to seem “rich”.
Laura: Other people yeah, but you? No.
What would you have purchased to seem rich?
Lacey: *Thinks.*
Bois Des Îles.
*Thinks*
Huh.
I’d wear a strong lavender oil. Or…some other sort of oil.
Trendiness is SO middle class. So consumeristic.
And everything else is already discovered.
Laura: YES!
Which is why Carolyn Kennedy wore a street musk. She was…trying to smell good. Not just trendy.
Lacey: I’d wear some…body lotion, but I can’t find anything quite that good.
Laura: But it’s to smell rich, you have to remember that.
Lacey: *Thinks*
I don’t think I can manage that.
Laura: Yeah!
So you can’t think of any other perfume that’s intentionally to smell rich, other than Bois Des Îles?
Lacey: No. Not for me.
I wear perfume that I know other people feel rich wearing, but I’ve never found something for me.
Laura: Yeah. Like it makes you feel rich? Or smell rich?
Lacey: Yeah.
Laura: I hear you.
What about…Coco Mademoiselle?
Lacey: No.
It’s good.
For commercial travel? Yes! For a day at a museum? YES.
But…it’s not rich smelling. It smells…potentially rich…but it’s not rich smelling.
Laura: Does anything other than Bois Des Îles smell truly rich?
Lacey: I can’t think of anything!
I mean, there’s a difference between “what rich people actually wear” and “rich people perfume”.
Laura: Yes!!!
Rich people wear…so many different things. But…to indicate wealth? That’s a different matter.
Lacey: Exactly!
Laura: Do you think people…realize this?
Lacey: Well maybe not?
You can’t indicate wealth…that easily. Some things are kind of a tell, but…-
Laura: Do we psychically sense it? And then either lie to ourselves or not?
Lacey: I don’t know…
Laura: Okay.
Well, it’s late.
Lacey: Indeed.
Laura: *Waves goodbye*
*This was a text conversation between Lacey and her friend Laura, who lives on the West Coast.*
Keen to Cross the Pond 
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