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Wall Street's bad deal — drug addiction

9mmCensor said:
use inherited wealth to make more.

you cant invest if you dont have anything to start with.
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i agree that money makes money, but money doesn't necessarily make a professional. It has to start somewhere.

Incidentally, this was published by the BBC today, covers my profession.

'I felt hunted and alone' - lawyer

Old Bailey in London

The Law Society is to look at lawyers' work-life balance

The work-life balance of the UK's lawyers is to come under scrutiny as part of a Law Society review to see why record numbers appear to be leaving the profession.

Some say the popular belief that the life of a City lawyer is all about big bonuses, expensive holidays and flowing champagne is misguided and, in fact, the career is more likely to end in emotional or physical breakdown.

One City lawyer, Zoe (not her real name), explains how her job brought on anorexia and depression, and ultimately forced her to leave a top law firm.

In the firm in which I worked, the day typically began at 6am.

Technically, our working hours were 9.30am to 5.30pm with an hour for lunch, but since we were "invited" to sign a written waiver of our rights under the EU Working Time directive, that was entirely academic.

The critical factor was clocking up the requisite number of chargeable hours per day - sometimes 8 or 9 - or such additional time as the work required, including weekends or taking instructions from clients at home late at night.

This was due to global time differences or simply since clients expect that kind of service for the fees and you do so in the firm's name and to protect its outstanding reputation.

Non-chargeable work, including training or some of the pro bono work some major firms do, for example, would be expected to be on top.

Constant scrutiny

Lunch was usually eaten on the hoof, if at all, and I was always anxious that the amount of time I was away from my desk would be watched.

For two years, I did no cooking at home during the week whatsoever, snatching breakfast from the staff canteen on arrival, frequently having lunch at my desk and if the work dictated it, breaking for supper in the canteen too, before returning to my desk.

After 10pm, you could take a taxi home which would be charged to either the office or, more frequently, the client.

But I would often not return home until around 11pm, have a bath and slump into bed, just to repeat the same routine the next day.

In an environment where it is usually "every man for himself and devil take the hindmost", you feel under constant scrutiny to impress and watch your back the whole time.

Over the edge

In my experience, the firm will always close ranks against the individual, no matter what the cost to him or her, creating almost a conspiracy of silence while offering little or no support to anyone who needs help, be it personally or professionally.

Sometimes, the expectations can literally drive you over the edge.

Cast from BBC's This Life
Stressed, overworked, with no support... the life of a lawyer?

I have seen more people break down in top firms than in any other city professions, often with tragic consequences.

And once promotion becomes an issue, it is cut-throat.

So far as culture goes, it was still pretty much a case of lunch being for wimps and people would leave their jackets on the back of chairs and PCs logged on well after 7pm, lest anyone thought they were shirking.

If I wanted to get ahead within the firm, then a social life was the sacrifice I had to make.

Work was my life. My only social life was being entertained by clients, which at the time felt like a great honour, but was really quite a strain.

One client even tried to kiss me as I went to a memorial service for another client. It was repulsive.

Decision to leave

I think that the loss of work-life balance and the premium it puts on your achievements at work contributes hugely to the stress of working in such firms.

As one climbs the greasy pole, it is desperately sad to see the effects this has on individuals and their families as we struggle to prove ourselves - divorces, family breakdowns, addiction and other mental health problems, even suicides.

Physically, I became anorexic and quite neurotic.

I felt utterly beleaguered and lost faith in the integrity of the firm and potentially in the profession altogether - save that a partner in another department involved in my most major case wrote me a very kind, supportive letter after I had left.

I became disillusioned, isolated and depressed.

Eventually, I could not even travel on public transport into work and took minicabs, at great cost.

I felt hunted and went to ground completely for a month before eventually deciding to leave and joining my next firm.

Ego and money

I chose to become a solicitor since I regarded it as a vocation - in which I could make a real difference to clients' lives.

Most importantly, it was about justice, ethics and integrity.

However, I have come to realise that it is nothing like that - it is all about ego, money and soulless, ruthless commercialism and exploitation, invariably at the personal expense of those working for the true "Fat Cats".

It is every man for himself, hang the consequences.
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Cry me a river, if the firm is too demanding use your right to quit and look for work elsewhere.

An article about an overworked lawyer makes the paper, whens the last time you saw an article about an illegal immigrant making less then minimum wage working 16+ hour days?

I'm not a college marxist, I just enjoy pointing out the bias the media has to the upper crust of society. And all else being equal wealth makes everything easier.
 
garuda said:
Cry me a river, if the firm is too demanding use your right to quit and look for work elsewhere.
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it's not like working in fucking burger king
 
kappadaftie said:
it's not like working in fucking burger king
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You're right, someone who works at BK probably doesn't have a valued college degree and enough financial resources to to just quit and look for other work.

I really have a low tolerance to people crying about their jobs rich or poor, either quit and find someplace that treats and pays you what you think you deserve or shut up.
 
garuda said:
I really have a low tolerance to people crying about their jobs rich or poor, either quit and find someplace that treats and pays you what you think you deserve or shut up.
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Yup! And if nobody will pay you what you think your time is worth, then guess what? You've over estimated your worth! (financially speaking of course)
 
lurkerguy said:
Ahhh the "pressures" of being a Wall Street trader.

Give me a fucking break.

Bunch of whining bastards.

How about the pressure of being an ex-con with no available options but to sell drugs for a living.
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you've got no idea what his life was like and he's got no idea about yours. if you don't want others to be judgemental about you, i'd suggest you not do the same.
 
Well, cocaine addiction started primarily among the scientists who initially studied coke (they tested it on themselves) and the doctors who would study it as well. Heroin addiction got its start among uppercrust white women due to the ease of getting it (from the chemist done the street- same with coke). Hell, you used to be able to buy a gram of pure Merck coke from the druggist in town:\
 
boo_kitty said:
Well, cocaine addiction started primarily among the scientists who initially studied coke (they tested it on themselves) and the doctors who would study it as well. Heroin addiction got its start among uppercrust white women due to the ease of getting it (from the chemist done the street- same with coke). Hell, you used to be able to buy a gram of pure Merck coke from the druggist in town:\
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Uh, chemist for heroin? Could've sworn it was sold over the counter by bayer back in the day..
 
garuda said:
It was, it was touted as a non-addictive replacement for morphine, which was supposed to be a non-addictive replacement for opium.
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And wasn't oxycodone then created, to be less addictive than heroin? LOL!
 
But don't worry, I'm sure we'll come up with some opiate that's not addicting! (correct me if I'm wrong, but even the term 'non-addictive opiate' seems to be quite the oxymoron)
 
wow some peoples opinions are really interesting on the subject of wall street bankers!

i don't think it's worth discussing but bingalpaws is right on the money
 
bingalpaws said:
But don't worry, I'm sure we'll come up with some opiate that's not addicting! (correct me if I'm wrong, but even the term 'non-addictive opiate' seems to be quite the oxymoron)
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Its all bullshit, if it agonizes opiate receptors its gonna be addictive as breathing.

Hell there is a poster here that is claims to be addicted to loperimide.
 
I know construction workers and contractors who work sometimes more than 100 hours a week without using drugs. They still have to deal with the stress of customers not paying them for work, managing a small business, dealing with jerks and feeding their family. They do their work at great cost to their body physically. I should know, my father was exactly like that and me and both my brothers spent many years of our lives living like that.
 
I do feel sorry for the rich banker who is depressed. Sorry but the idea money=happiness is a big lie. This guy is not on easy street just because he's wealthy. Greed is like a drug addiction; if you get a lot of money it's never "enough" you always just want more and more. You might feel satisfied for a while after you gain a lot of money but then you always get used to it and want even more. That's why the article talks about bankers and investors working 100-hour amphetamine-fueled weeks. People who work on Wall Street get depressed, get addicted to drugs, have family members die, commit suicide, etc. just like anyone else.

Valhalla, my dad also worked more than 100 hours a week at his job. He didn't do it without drugs though, he used coffee copiously. He was not an investment banker or a construction worker, he was a scientist. He was also really stressed out and depressed, made six figures working for medical university, and do you think his money helped him? It helped him buy a new car every year, a bigger tv every couple years, a second home etc. The car was used to go to and from work and nothing else, the tv was what he watched when he wasnt working instead of talking to his wife or kids, and the second house was the place where my mom found out he was cheating on her. Money does not equal happiness. Think about how the brain adapts. Wealthy people (don't get me wrong, my dad made i'm sure just a fraction of what the Wall Street bankers make) don't wake up every morning and gasp in amazement at all the cool stuff they have. They are used to it. They are just as miserable as poor people because they are just as poor in what really matters, love.
 
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