We'd be remiss if we let this story from the New York Times' weekend Real Estate section pass without taking a moment to remark upon the fact that it is little more than a litany of lies.
The headline: "Being Related to the Family Firm." The premise: that when a child of a family that owns a prominent real estate firm decides to join that firm and enter the real estate business, they are doing something risky or difficult, rather than a standard example of rich kids taking advantage of nepotism (which is, of course, a career advantage, not a hindrance).
The lies:
1. The premise of the story.
2. "'You can't make any mistakes,' said S. Christopher Halstead, at 29 an executive vice president of Halstead Property, a company co-founded by Clark Halstead, his uncle."
3. "'You have to enjoy every minute of it, or you won't get anywhere,' said Michael S. Lorber, 33, a senior vice president of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, a firm co-owned by his father, Howard M. Lorber."
4. "'We don't clock out, so you really have to love what you do,' said Katherine Gale, 26, a great-granddaughter of Daniel Gale, whose eponymous firm on the North Shore of Long Island is now affiliated with Sotheby's International Realty."
5. "It's not an easy job," [Brooklyn real estate firm heir Alexandra] Reddish said, "but it absolutely lets you define your own success."
6. "My father is not big into nepotism."
7. "I understand and always have that there's no such thing as a free lunch in my family."
8. "At least I got my nephew interested, and he's no slouch," Mr. Halstead said. "Any ascension to management is beyond my engineering."
Thank god America is still a place where kids can still pull themselves up into a seat at the family firm by their bootstraps.