future-careers

A House Built On Scented Candles

Joshua Stein · 12/31/07 10:25AM

According to a Times Style slideshow I watched while sitting in my living room/dining room and also kitchen/den/shoebox and grave/walk up, lifestyle-product-maker Harry Slatkin and his wife recently had a party where "guests roamed through the couple's Upper East Side town house in a whirl of style and gaiety. Ears and wrists sparkled with carat-heavy diamonds; sculptured lips nibbled on comfort food. See what they were wearing then." Roam is a 14th century verb meaning " to travel purposefully unhindered through a wide area" for instance, "cattle roaming in search of water." Bitter class resentment immediately bubbled from my gullet. I got up disgusted and confused, roamed the two steps to my cappuccino machine, and stewed while foaming some milk. Then I began to study Slatkin's life to see if I too couldn't figure out a way to get rich quick or die trying.