I have a stereotypical view of uptown/wealthy New York. When I first think of wealth on the Upper East Side I think of rich white people in lavish penthouse apartments. Many images come to my mind of narcissistic women who hide behind their designer bags, shoes, sunglasses and fur coats. I imagine their husbands to be corporate businessmen wearing the most expensive suits and driving their brand new S-class Mercedes. These images I have are very stereotypical and in reality most people are probably not like this, but this is my view as an average New Yorker.
When I think of a day in the life of a wealthy family on the Upper East Side I don’t know what to think of other than the images and characters that Hollywood has pushed onto my imagination since I was born. I suspect that the husband is a workaholic businessman that becomes so involved in making money that he becomes disconnected from his wife and children. The children are not taken care of by the mother but instead by a nanny who has the task of rearing the children and being more of a mother to them. These children a boy and a girl are driven in a limo to and from a wealthy private school that all of the other children of the social elite go to. During the day the mother plans parties with her friends while they go out to eat and the father is at the office. On a normal day the children come back home and are fed and bathed by the nanny. They spend some time with their mother, do their homework and are off to bed. The father comes home late at night and spends absolutely no time with his children. He and his wife sometimes spend time together but mostly they fight because of their disconnected lives. This unhealthy cycle goes on until the day where husband and wife are separated and the family is torn apart.
Why do I have this perception? I have no real experience of wealthy New York other than what my parents have told me and what I have seen on television. When I was smaller sometimes I used to go on drives with my family throughout Manhattan. I keenly remember my mom pointing out apartment buildings in one area and telling me that the richest people in the world must live in there. As an outsider of the world of the rich and famous this is the only type of view I can fathom in my mind.
