SOCIAL COMMENTARY

Working for a Rich Woman Taught Me Lessons About the 1%

And why the actions of our politicians in our current regime are not surprising at all

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Note: names of persons and organizations have been changed.

I recall the excitement I felt when I received a brief note from the head of Young Classics acknowledging my application to an internship she had posted.

Dear Florence,

We are excited to accept your application. Your credentials are impressive and your writing samples compelling! Let’s meet on Tuesday at 2.

The fact that the manager — a Carol Mandelsohn — didn’t get my name correct should have been a warning. But a 23-year-old desperate for a paid internship doesn’t always exercise the caution she should.

As I entered her spacious greystone on the near north side of Chicago, I could immediately tell she was very comfortably off even if she was clad in a purple wool dress that had seen some better times. If I had any doubts, she would mention right after introducing herself that her husband was an attorney. He had a doctorate in history from Yale too — oh, and I was to call him Dr. Mandelsohn.