Trump/GOP thought of the day: when I worked in investment bankers, there was this "whatever I can get away with" mentality regarding EVERYING. Expense reports, having a mistress while you already have a wife--and mistress, there was this gleeful "you did it!" spirit of pulling...

... off a con. Changing the date on your birthdate to get cheaper fares on. People Express flights, taking stuff home from the office. I unsuccessfully tried to start a book club reading feminist lit (what was I thinking?) so mostly women but 1st time, someone stole...

...something small and unnoticeable--my roll of stamps for all my #writing submissions. I remember exactly that the stamps were worth $36--not a small amt of #. The next time was a get together + there were some dudes there

not only did my apartment get more trashed than I'd liked--treated more like a bar than someone's home--my every expensive financial HP Calculator, back when they were $ because they could make them so small... was stolen. THEN I was mad. One of my coworkers did it. One of ..

...those years I was wearing my Dukakis/Bentsen button, while Dan Quayle was just a laughable ignoramus (he said he'd get his daughter a D&C if she got pregnant as a teen, he would NEVER let her have an abortion). - I was confident they'd lose, because--HOW DUMB. Obviously

They did not lose. And it took a while for me to realize all the dudes in the office expensing their trips to SCORES--that was a real biz expense, not even something they were sneaking. I was working there partly because my parents...partly to fund my writing in a sustainable way

But not in the GOP/Trump scam way. I took advantage of having to watch the Quotron (this machine that gave us real time stock prices) + being trained in economics (and writing) I am good at discerning patterns. I didn't have a ton of $ but invested early in this company...

McCaw Cellular, because I had an idea cell phone would become a big deal, esp. because all the calculator-stealing jerks in the office were starting to use them. I also bought some early Nokia bec of that + also the company's fundamental data were great (unlike some of...

...the more skeevy US companies where it's more difficult to see behind their data. I'm not a financial genius but anyone remember the PROSPERITY of the Clinton years? Govt surplus, no war etc. etc. I was able to parlay that into leaving my job to write full time...even tho

I didn't get published for 2+ more years and eventually had to freelance at another i-bank. I go on and on about Depression-era Glass Steagall protections + other regs that have gotten gutted, and w/rise of private equity, high speed trading, etc. I don't even think this path is

open to artists any more. NYC was a lot less $$$ back then but I still had to create a robust financial life to live there - what are people going to do in the post-Trump era, where the calculator stealers are running the show? #VOTE

p.s. since everyone's watching documentaries, watch @CharlesFerguson 's 2010 The Inside Job - about the subprime mortgage scam--yes, a scam that I saw building at Goldman + you'll see why the US financial system is basically a suckers game yet everyone thinks bankers are so smart

and, last thing: my 1st job I learned I was being paid less than my grade (male boss), 2nd job all sorts of similar problems (female boss at Goldman)--for freelance job I went thru @BrownUniversity alum network + had a boss who treated me fairly, I didn't even have 2 negotiate

but in some ways this AWFUL experience made me a full-time writer b/c if places 1+2 had treated me fairly, I think I might have made a go at pursuing a career in finance AND writing AND financial writing, which I was good at but brought me, frankly, 0 job-

-and in retrospect really does not contribute to humanity. So thank you 1st 2 awful finance jobs, where unfortunately I saw some really smart young ppl just toiling away joylessly for the $