Jan 31

Jan 31 is when we get paid our bonus. It is my first bonus season in NYC. Still trying to figure out how things work. You are not supposed to share any information with anybody, but you can kind of tell that some people have better ideas about how much others are getting; every once in a while around the corners you see people in groups of 2 or 3 talking in lowered tones. I am new here so I am not surprised to be the last one to find out about these type of things. I don't really care.. I was also told that literally every Feb 1st, people submit resignation letters in groups to go after better jobs.

You would think that it's THE happiest day of the year on wall street, especially after all these banks post record high earnings. However when I look around I hardly find any smiling faces. I think partly it's because the senior management took big chunck of the money. It's not like someone at my level could do anything about that. People like us 比上不足比下有餘. I am sure that we (on the business side) are not the worst off compared to the others (in IT, for example, I know people there work pretty hard but get fraction of what we get) Also some people are happy with their numbers, but those individuals keep a poker face so others can't tell to avoid frictions within the group.

People are greedy, especially in New York City where you literally survive here with rich people with proximity. You ride subway with them, you brush shoulders against them walking on the street, you pass by their luxury apartments... The key is to be content, or you will never be happy and die young in New York City.