Bitsy

Let’s just stretch ourselves and presume Lem was straight. Just for now, at least. …It probably isn’t as unlikely as it might seem to some.

Why? Odd things can happen in life.

Summertime Sadness plays.

…Lacey can’t watch Succession. It’s…contrived and abrasive to her. It’s…depressing, even.

She can watch And Just Like That, however. As contrived as that show can be. But…it’s…Betsy Johnson strawberries contrived. It’s…colorful people living in Manhattan. Bright, beautifully appareled, chic people. It always was. Their wealth is and always has been essential but not…the point. …A search for the meaning of life…is a subtextual lingering question that draws you from start to present. Love, career, beauty…what matters?

On today’s episode Ché possibly left the series. But an ostrich tan Birkin remained.

…And it made Lacey think.

Piano Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor by Beethoven plays.

Nancy was like a Tik Tok star for a few years I’m the early 2010’s. She was semi Internet famous. And…even though her husband only made around $55,000 a year mostly likely…her income was possibly around $40,000.00. For a few years. So…they were making around $100,000.00 a year. For a few years.

And…during that time Nancy bought her (very authentic looking) Chanel bag and supposedly bought her two Hermes bags as well. They might have been fake. They looked fake, objectively speaking. But…it’s reasonable to think that she might have bought her bags during those years…so they might have unfortunately just looked fake for whatever reason.

The thing is…those years were…an exception. Nancy stopped making money online almost at all eventually. And then they had to rely on her husband’s salary. And…it’s never occurred to Lacey what a shock that must have been to Nancy. As in, she recognized it was a shock…but…not to its full depth.

Going from being able to buy a new Chanel to…having $40,000.00 less a year is a staggering trajectory for a great many people in the US. The financial security of that $40,000.00 a year then taken away…is…huge.

La Valse d’Amélie by Yann Tiersen plays.

Lacey imagines Nancy counting on having that $40,000.00 a year for far longer. Planning the future. Having dreams. Feeling as though she truly belonged to the upper-middle class after the first year. Mentally acclimating.

In 2013 $100,000 a year was pretty decent for a family in their late 20’s with one child. Not living in a major city.

Lacey suspects Nancy related to her…with that lens. In 2015. …Even though Nancy’s internet-based salary was dying…she still felt…acclimatized to the upper middle class way of seeing the world. And…Lacey grew-up with the upper middle class. Kids who aunt lived in the Hamptons. And she was used to relating to them. Nancy seemed like one of those people when she first started talking with her. Maybe Nancy felt like one those people.

When Nancy opened up to Lacey and told her about her poor childhood…randomly…it shocked Lacey. And Lacey felt empathy and empathetic embarrassment for Nancy if she had shared too much.

And yet being Lacey…she missed her cue. Because that’s when Lacey should have realized that she was at the wrong party. But…being a hippie at heart and Lacey…she missed it.

It was beautiful to Lacey that Nancy was sharing with her. She loved her bravery. …Or was it bravery? It might not have been.

Because Lacey couldn’t relate. And while she felt Nancy was overhearing in an emotional moment in life…she…assumed Nancy knew she couldn’t relate, which was part of the reason it was oversharing. And she admired Nancy for it. It looked like emotionally insightful, brave confidence in the value of her own soul. And Lacey was genuinely impressed.

Did Lacey seem impressed or put off? She certainly tried to seem impressed. But…what impression did she give Nancy about the rest of it?

Nancy West…was…not aware? Lacey didn’t share her own childhood? Lacey didn’t…explain their financial trajectory? Probably not? That conversation was supposed to be about Nancy and Lacey thought it was a deep conversation. Did Nancy assume…what she wanted to assume? Whoops?

And at that, Mr. Blue desperately tries to suffocate Lacey because he’s narcissistically out raged. So is Wobbly. They’ve been trying lately to do a lot of PR damage because they’re afraid that people are going to think that they’re not old money.

“No, and to some degree they’re not,” says Louis.

“People don’t understand the difference between generational wealth and old money.“ says an actress.

“At any rate, we are wondering if Nancy got confused.” says Lem.

“You couldn’t relate. You probably had problems that she didn’t and doesn’t understand and she misunderstood you.” says Casi. “I think a lot of people in the perfume community at that time really wanted to think that you were one of them and they couldn’t fathom that you weren’t. They got very attached to the idea that you were like us, but somehow pretentious, which was really kind of stupid to say the least, if not delusional, but that’s what people thought to some degree.”

“And she doesn’t have $3 million right now and she’s not living in Palm Beach with $50 million wearing designer clothes head to toe.” protests Mr. Blue.

“And yet you’re still threatened by her so why is that? Why do you want to destroy the entire country to get rid of her individual freedom? What does her freedom of movement and her being alive do to you that makes you so narcissistically threatened that you want to kill her or destroy the entire country?” says Michael.

“I know what it is, it’s that she’s old money. I know she doesn’t wear a Birkin and she doesn’t live in Palm Beach but she’s also not trying to impress those people. I don’t think their opinion means that much to her on a personal level. If one of them was an expert, on some something that she cared about, she’d care about their opinion and obviously, she cares about them as people, but their opinion of her it means basically nothing to her.” says Michael. “Matter fact I think she would like for them not to like her. If they were good people, she might care. But given the way that things have worked out for America and the world over the last 50 to 60 years their wealth is not impressive to her in the way that they choose to display it. She finds them to be exotic, colorful, glamorous birds of paradise people. And she values their humanity. But their opinion of things is of almost no consequence to her unless if they’re good people and she can verify that what they’re saying is intellectually astute. …And no she’s not a liberal hippie in the way that people think of hippies nowadays, she’s actually quite conservative and yet she’s not. …And yet she has great taste, she inherited money and her attitude and her essence, and her being speaks to wealth speaks of genuine wealth. And you sense that. She seems like English old money. And she probably is, literally. And that’s not a bad thing in her case. But that’s probably why you’re so threatened by her Mr. Blue because you have never intellectually accounted for her in your analysis of anything your entire life.”

“So you thought I was one of those Palm Beach people or what?” asks Nancy.

“Not necessarily… But not not one of those people. More like you’re grown-up in a house worth maybe $900,000 today… somewhere in northern New Jersey. or possibly outside of Philadelphia. To a family of some generational wealth maybe old money probably not but some generational wealth. And ironically, given Sex In The City, the episodes today, I thought you were Italian. I thought you were Italian generational wealth maybe old money on your mother side probably not maybe old money on your grandmother’s side, but probably not, but but some sort of generational wealth. And would you be in Palm Beach maybe? You probably have a great uncle, or a second cousin who has a condo near the ocean. It might not be in Palm Beach so it might be in some semi-glamorous community like Boca Raton. Or something like that something something, upper class in a sense and posh but maybe not like absolute like Palm Beach people who have like $20 million estate but like…you might have a great uncle with $1 million condo or something or even a $600,000 condo next to the beach.” says Lacey.

“But not like old money like you are, but like old money like my grandmother was old money, and she married my Italian grandfather, who wasn’t old money, but did really well in some way, and they had a very nice life in the Garden State?” asks Nancy. “And his brother did very well too or her brother did very well. Maybe her brother-in-law was Jewish maybe her sister married a Jew and I was raised in some upscale neighborhood in New Jersey and my childhood home was very nice probably not huge but nice. And you would’ve figured that I went to maybe an Ivy League school but probably more likely something like what Syracuse or Penn State let’s say I went to Penn State and that’s why I was living in Pennsylvania. …And that was why you were baffled by what I wrote you because that’s really who you thought I could be.” says Nancy.

“But I think what I was getting around to discussing is how shocking it must’ve been for you to go from that extra $40,000 a year all the way back to 50 or $60,000. Because that really when you’re dealing with those numbers for a family of three in Pennsylvania in 2013 that really is a sizable amount of money.” says Lacey.

“Yeah well we had a lot of money for a while for a few years and it felt like we were rich and then it just sort of died and it’s still very sad.” says Nancy in a haughty voice.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa do you still think that you were wealthier than her?!?” asks Casi.

Nancy laughs.

“I highly doubt that Lacey is going to call you out the way that you need to be called out right now because that’s not her personality. How much do you think she was making at that time?” asks Casi.

“I don’t know maybe her husband was making $54,000 a year?” says Nancy.

“Yeah but he’d been making $54,000 since he was 23 and then he shot up to like $100,000 in like a year right after that.” says Casi. “And I bet you anything he had an interview at JP Morgan, or Bear Stearns or Goldman Sachs or something when he was in college because his father arranged it. And don’t forget that her father-in-law offered them like a $500,000 condo for free at that same time. How much do you think she was really making?” asks Casi.

“That’s all true.” says Lacey.

“Did he take the interview?” asks Nancy.

“Yes, but that wasn’t really what he was interested in so it didn’t go anywhere.” says Lacey.

“Told you!” says Casi.

Nancy thinks. “Well, I mean he almost went to Loomis Chaffee, but then his mother decided not to let him go, right?”

“Yes, and if you impersonate her, you’re gonna wish that you hadn’t!” says Tommy Banks.

“Don’t, please don’t!” begs Nancy’s dead relative who cares.

“How much were you making? How much did you guys actually have?“ asks Casi.

“Maybe around $100,000 it was around $100,000 maybe $110. My father was getting checks from the oil company for around $90,000 a month at that time.” says Lacey. “That’s certainly not what he’s getting now, but at that time it was a lot of money. The cost of oil, the health of the economy, that was before global warming was super obvious, the world was still fairly at peace, so no oil was very expensive very used and he was making a lot of money. It was still super easy to get it out of the ground too.” says Lacey.

“ that was after the housing crisis of 08 though and homes hadn’t really improved.” says a reader.

“Yes! But we’d had a pretty strong economy right before that and 2013 is still relatively close would you look at things from the big picture to the 1990’s. So it’s like we’d gone through turmoil over the last 10 years. but it was like 1013 years of turmoil and to someone in their 40s or 50s who is important on Wall Street that doesn’t seem like that much. So we hadn’t felt and that’s pre-Covid, pre-Trump we hadn’t, I don’t think we felt as vulnerable and I think people felt safer doing things financially. I think things in a sense were healthier overall.” says Lacey.

“So for like two or three years, your father who raised you was part of the 1%?” asks Nancy.

“Her father, who raised her, yes.” says Reta.

“So your father was part of the 1% at that time, you were inheriting hundreds of thousands of dollars that accumulated. And you were probably living fairly frugally and then your husband leapt up $50,000 a year because of his connections and his intelligence and his hard work and his other credentials probably where he went to school and his experience. And those tests that he takes are really hard, and I bet he probably passes them extremely easily doesn’t he, and he takes that for granted?” asks Nancy.

“Yes, and again be careful, I’ve got my eye on you.” says Tom.

Scott laughs. “It really was offensive the way that you decided to try to copy Lacey…and don’t impersonate her in any meaningful way beyond what you’ve already done. It really isn’t a good idea.” says Scott.

“So those Norwegian, conservative, Bible, believing white, old money Christians were making $1 million a year. Actually how much were they making? How much was that oil making on just the one farm that year?” asks a conspiracy theorist.

“It was only about oh roughly $4 or $5 million that year but then it was split between four people but it was it was about $4 or $5 million that one year.” says a dead man.

“How muchmuch were the Nesheims making a year?“ asks the conspiracy theorist.

“$6 million maybe?” says the dead man.

“How much was your father making a month two or three years ago?” asks a hater.

“Around $3000 a month. I mean that’s a considerable drop but now around $3000 a month.” says Lacey.

“Wow so went from making about $1 million for like two years to $35,000?!” says the hater.

“Yes!” says Lacey.

“You seem totally unimpressed by that, like you really don’t give a shit?” the hater asks.

“Well, I mean I wish that he had spent his money a little wiser. It was nice to inherit some, but he spent it on some things that I don’t think were necessary. But I think he had fun and that’s just how it goes. That’s just how things go you know if there was a way to make things more controlled maybe that would be better but that’s just how things go. I’m kind of just I don’t I don’t care you’re right, I care, but I don’t care.” says Lacey.

“So you really aren’t daunted by that?” asks a man in the Illuminati.

“No, I mean it’s just a fallen world and worse things happen than going from making $1 million a year to $35,000.” says Lacey.

“OK but like if he were to die right now, and things were to be the way they were then you’d be making $1 million a year Lacey.” says a psychic. “And it isn’t because you’re working hard outside of the hold, you inherited that money you would be inheriting $1 million a year. Although if I’m actually talking to you and this really is Illuminati it’s debatable how hard you’re working…and you’re also fighting for your life. And you’re in love with men who are dead, one of whom is a Rockefeller. Does that affect you or did you just think the entire thing is stupid?”

Lacey laughs. “The entire thing is stupid outside of the fun that intellectual people have like economists and people who really enjoy business. I highly doubt that in Heaven that there’s a monetary system. I mean, there might be because it might serve some purpose that’s edifying to people, but other than that, I doubt that there’s probably a monetary system.

I think the entire thing in this world, the way that there’s sin, and death is flawed. I think the monetary system, the way it can sometimes hurt people, especially children and minorities is flawed, obviously. And it’s part of the fallen world so to me it’s stupid.

That being said if I had had a happier childhood, if I had been loved by people, if I had friends that cared about me who actually checked on me once in a while…if I had people who really cared about me in my life, I might care more. When I think of my money, I think of safety, how it affects my children and how it’ll sustain me in my old age. Those are my three primary concerns, safety, old age, and my children. Outside of that, I don’t give a shit because the people I care about are all dead in a romantic or friendship way for the most part. My parents are probably both dead. There’s nobody alive who I’m close to. If I’m illegitimate my father died decades ago. It’s possible he held me for a month or two and that’s all I know of him. Or I like to think that he would’ve held me for a month or two because I feel like he’s the father that I wish I’d had. Someone who actually gave a shit about me as a human and not just for appearance’s sake.

So if I was more attached to this world outside of the bare essentials, like if I could take vacations that I actually enjoyed with a man to some tropical location maybe I would care more. I would think about all of the fun things I could do with that money…but as it stands right now it’s just more stuff or stability and if I can maintain stability and I can maintain safety I don’t really have a need for an extra few million dollars.

Of course I don’t trust people for damn good reason. So if someone tried to take my money away for me, or tried to re-organize society to screw me over they’d regret it, I guarantee you they’d regret it. I am not someone to screw around with for the wrong reasons. But that being said, I don’t know even if Lem was alive or or Michael was alive I can’t think that I would be an overly materialistic person. I would be extremely private and there are some things I’d be very picky about…but I don’t think that I would be someone who would be materialistic, even if I’m terrifying, or would be very terrifying if I was married to Michael especially.” says Lacey.

“Let me ask your father: How likely is it that Lacey would’ve married Michael versus Lem or Louis or even Harold? Who who who does he think she would’ve married? What is his take on it?” asks the psychic.

More later.

“She would have married Lem.” says Tom. “Eventually anyway.”

More later.

More tomorrow.