Michele Catalano writes, “In the midst of a recession, the New York Times wants to make sure you remember the people most affected by these ‘tough economic times’”:

That’s why they brought us articles like “Parental Lifelines, Frayed to Breaking.” In this down economy, the Times seems to believe that people like Eric Gross deserve to have their plight publicized and to receive your sympathy.

Eric, a 26-year-old construction worker, is reeling from the news that his parents might not be able to help him buy a one-bedroom New York City condo that’s going for $600,000. Let’s all shed a tear for Eric and the trust fund kids of Williamsburg who find themselves having to actually work to pay the exorbitant rents of their hipster neighborhood:

Luis Illades, an owner of the Urban Rustic Market and Cafe on North 12th Street, said he had seen a steady number of applicants, in their late 20s, who had never held paid jobs: They were interns at a modeling agency, for example, or worked at a college radio station. In some cases, applicants have stormed out of the market after hearing the job requirements. “They say, ‘You want me to work eight hours?’ ” Mr. Illades said. “There is a bubble bursting.”

These kids are headed back home to mommy and daddy, unable to make it in a world where they wish to live like kings — kings who have inherited their kingdoms instead of going to war for them — and not realizing they are nothing more than proletariat.

Meanwhile, found via Freeman Hunt, the Frugal Dad Website helps us spot the “Language of the Perpetual Poor.”

Poor being a relative term of course, as Michele’s article explains.