. . . and he made damn sure I paid it back. But I guess that's because he doesn't love me as much as Natasha Agrawal's parents love her. I'm so happy the Times took the time to introduce me to one of my new neighbors:
LIKE many parents, Madhu and Kishore Agrawal do whatever they can to help their children. For their 25-year-old daughter, Natasha, that help has ranged from sending her through Tufts University to watching her cat, the General, when she traveled to India to visit relatives late last year. Recently, they made the most financially demanding commitment so far: they are putting up most of the money to help her buy a two-bedroom penthouse apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for $900,000.
Welcome, Natasha! I can't wait to meet you! I'm sure we're going to be fast friends! Maybe we'll grab a drink at the Royal Coke! Or maybe we'll just shop . . . Williamsburg has tons of fancy, fun-kay, new boutiques, chock full of overpriced designer garb that your parents will surely help you purchase. In fact, while your parents have their checkbook open, maybe they can give your new BFF a hand. My sofa is really looking threadbare these days and Mabel the Cat could use some new catnip toys. I know several of your other new neighbors read this blog, I wonder what they'd like your parents to buy them?
Does she have enough room for me and my concubines and six kids?
Posted by: osisbs | March 19, 2007 at 12:00 PM
PUKE
Posted by: kate | March 19, 2007 at 05:17 PM
While I know it seems excessive... thats pretty much how many Indian parents roll... I don't think I would have the heart to ask for that kind of cash from my parents but grad school, marriage, first down payment... the parents are willing to help out. I think a large part of it is the immigrant experience of having to work so hard, they don't want their kids to go through the same thing, even if they help out to ridiculous lengths.
Posted by: Shiny | March 19, 2007 at 07:17 PM
Word, Shiny -- I am saving for my kid's first house/college, etc. I draw the line at a wedding though. She's on her own there.
Posted by: LS | March 19, 2007 at 08:38 PM
PUKE.
Posted by: kate c. | March 19, 2007 at 09:19 PM
Don't hate. I paid my own way too -- I have worked non-stop since I was 16 -- what's the point if I can't help out my family now?
Posted by: LS | March 20, 2007 at 12:20 AM
I don't think there's anything wrong with helping your kid out, but I do think a 995k penthouse at 26 is just retarded and breeds the kind of privileged, noxious asswipes that now fill New York City.
Posted by: Judy McOliverTwist | March 20, 2007 at 07:19 AM
there's nothing wrong with helping your kids out - but $900K for a penthouse in trendy Billyburg? and her job is a publicity hack for an indy record label? What's her salary? $25K TOPS??? she won't even be able to afford the monthly maintenance and/or utilities....
Posted by: Capn Jon | March 20, 2007 at 03:22 PM
. . . not to mention her cocaine! Who's going to pay her dealer? Budding record execs need their nose candy and that shit doesn't grow on trees. At least not trees in Williamsburg.
Posted by: Judy McPractical | March 20, 2007 at 04:41 PM
though i will always love that it used to grow out of a back room at the aptly named "cokie's." *that's* the neighborhood i called home for a decade.
Posted by: kate | March 21, 2007 at 11:54 AM
"She added that parents or children with trust funds are buying about 25 percent of the inventory in Williamsburg." Well, you could just knock me over with a feather! You tellin' me those hardworking young kids in Williamsburg aren't earning those lofts by the sweat of their brooding little brows? NO WAY, man. I refuse to believe it!
Posted by: threetoedsloth | March 21, 2007 at 02:12 PM
If you read over the article [I had only initially read the first page] you'll notice that her parents are way more into the pricey apartment thing than she is. She wanted something small and not fancy and also wanted to keep her discount couches rather than buy new. They wanted a solid investment they can bank on in the future. Not saying its still not spoiling the kids [and I am also alarmed by this trust fund thing] but it doesn't appear shes all that bad.
Posted by: Shiny | March 21, 2007 at 02:47 PM
Ok maybe don't hate the hate.... but sorry the imbalance seems extreme... I am going to be scrambling soon to find an apartment in East New York -it will be called the "UP and COMING" neighborhood where serial killers and coke whores used to roam- sigh.... in like 10 years....
I grew up a poor kid amongst wasp-ee trustafarians... Yup TRUSTAFARIANS.... you know the types that seem to swarm to Williamsburg for the "real" experience of life... I thought I escaped these assholes who tried on personalities to seem cool but had no substance.... now they were thrift store clothes again- not because they are poor but to seem troubled and kicking it in the hood...
I am sorry it is more about the lack of earning something that hits a nerve with me... Sure I want to give to my kids... but with a sense of earning iit..... to know the value of hard work...
Hell maybe the girl is nice... But hands down she probably lacks a level of substance that comes from hardship and working hard to earn what you have...
To me, unfortunaley, I find it hard to relate and do not have respect for someone who is given everything.
Posted by: sugarcoat | March 21, 2007 at 07:32 PM
even if the parents bought her a less fancy apartment, buying a condo or coop in NYC is still not like buying a loaf of bread. it's a minimum $200K investment, and that's conservative.
character comes from working hard and earning what you get. does that mean parents should withdraw all assistance five minutes after a kid turns 18? no. but buying property for a kid, period, whether it's in NYC or lancaster, PA, and whether it's fancy or not, is way over the top, and something i can neither respect nor relate to.
Posted by: kate | March 22, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Ok -- I am sorry, what a bunch of whiners. "I don't have any respect for people who have had everything handed to them!" Oooh, you're so strong and moral. What it really sounds like is "That's unfair, I want a free condo too. Boo Hoo Hoo!"
Posted by: LS | March 22, 2007 at 12:37 PM
It's much easier to walk across a board on the ground than it is 40 feet in the air. Going to college, getting a degree, getting a job, being successful is much easier when safety awaits you upon failure.
Hence, the rich get richer and people who own safety nets are much better at walking high wires than people who don't.
Posted by: osisbs | March 22, 2007 at 12:50 PM
actually, on the scale of what to respect/not respect, "folks who have everything handed to them" is a pretty reasonable thing not to respect.
anectdotally, i've found in my field (publishing), that the writers and editors who did not have it all, who did not grow up in a lot of privelege, have a far higher level of skill (not talent, skill). not always, but generally. when you're up against people who don't have to work second/third jobs (or, in college, who don't have to work period), you work that much harder to succeed. when you're paying your own tuition, you're determined to get your money's worth out of your degree. when you've bought your own property, even if it's a fifth-floor walkup in an iffy neighborhood a mile from the train, man oh man are you proud of being a property owner.
no kid should go without. but all kids should learn the value of money and work for what they get.
Posted by: k.c. | March 22, 2007 at 04:47 PM