The recession is getting between us...

Today a friend linked me this delightful New York Times article. To summarize, the article discusses how the recent recession has torn apart relationships and even marriages between former Wall Street stars (BSD or big swinging dicks a la Michael Lewis) and their Gucci-studded former gold diggers. Perhaps the term gold digger is much too harsh. Undeniably, a bad at work will follow any Joe or Jane Doe home and financiers are currently enduring long continuous runs of bad days at work in a stressful industry, but I just can't shake off my cynicism when I hear about how these couples are "suffering" after living in irrational exuberance for the past few years. Nonetheless, the stories depicted in the article at least seemed understandable as they focused on how a turbulent workplace can ruin a relationship, a situation any body can relate to, even a big swinging dick.

The article was a little amusing and a little trite, but that was only scratching the surface. It linked a much larger blog known as Dabagirls: Dating A Banker Anonymous, which really reveals this world in their own words. Just a few brief examples of excellence:

Thanks to the recession, I now have a completely devoted BF, which is exactly what I wanted. So I should be happy, right? Wrong. I’m bored and can’t stop thinking about my perpetually unattainable Euro ex-boyfriend who is recession proof courtesy of an offshore trust account.

Michael Douglas once said that greed leads to evolution (yeah, that speech) and if all women were like this anonymous DABA, it certainly would!

One of the ugly truths about older successful men in finance is that despite having lavish homes, gorgeous wives, a few adorable kids and multi-million dollar bank accounts, they often yearn for more. “More” may be a distraction as innocuous as golf. It could also be a darker vice—gambling, drugs or prostitutes a la Spitzer. Unfortunately, it is rare man, rich or poor, that can withstand the temptation of forbidden fruit. That’s where I come in. My name is “Courtney” and I’m the other woman.

Wow, that's all I can say about that one...

Honestly, I doubt the authenticity or sincerity behind some of these posts (I suspect the first one was a somewhat misguided attempt at humor), but it still makes a really interesting read.