Don’t Be Crass, Hide Your Cash

The scene of the scene

Money can’t buy happiness but you can rent it for a while. The quote from Kim Gruenenfelder remains true to this day. New York City residents frequently come into contact with people who don’t have enough funds to rent happiness. Their lives become a reality game show, where they are both the host (using a line of patter) and contestant (attempting to coax cash from strangers).

The J. Geils Band song “First I Look at the Purse” fancifully describes how a single, lower-income male searches for a well-heeled woman to date:

I don’t care if her eyes are red
I don’t care if her nose is long
I don’t care if she’s underfed
I don’t care if her clothes are worn
First I look at the purse!

One of the most effective “unspoken rules of the street” is “Pocket your possessions.” Every new gizmo brings an inherent risk of theft, pickpocketing, or mugging. A high school friend proudly showed us an early edition Walkman he received as a birthday present. He didn’t use it publicly for months, waiting until he saw people wearing them in the city. “I didn’t want it to get snatched off my belt buckle,” he explained. “And if I hid it in a knapsack, somebody might’ve grabbed it off my shoulder.”