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My Poor Friend Jen Loves Designer Labels, Manicures, and Spa Days.
She is determined to look rich, at all cost.
Jen might not like this but I need to tell this tale.
I held off writing this article for over a year because I don’t want Jen to stumble across this article. I write under a pen name but stranger things have happened.
Writing as a ghost allows me to be honest about my world. And it has been so cathartic. So after this week’s visit with Jen, I had to write about my thoughts.
We all know people like Jen. Especially in this economy, it is becoming more and more obvious, who is real and who is a poser.
Jen is a poser. And a bad one at that. I am a very laid-back, Eddie Bauer-type girl. I don’t like dressing up, having spa days, etc. I have always been more into nature and outdoorsy, than spending all day inside.
Jen is the opposite. While she can be a great friend and really fun, she has one glaring problem- she NEEDS to look like she’s rich. The problem is she is not. Far from it. She works in customer service and makes $15/hour which is just enough to support her and her 10-year-old daughter.
She gets as many free clothes, hand-me-downs, and stuff for her daughter. But for herself? Chanel all the way. And it’s kind of sad.
The other day I visited her. She had just returned from the nail salon, with a fresh $75 manicure. Her hair had just been blown out and she was getting ready for her date. Her daughter L. came into the room and needed some money for the class field trip.
Jen did not have $20 for her daughter’s trip. She had already blown it on her nails. This is just one example of shortchanging her daughter in order to look a certain way to fool other people.
Throughout the time I have known her, she has had a history of doing this. Needing to dress to the 9’s to impress everyone. Lying about where she lives, that it’s not a studio apartment with air mattresses on the floor. Dodging creditors, changing her phone number, and not paying her bills.
Her baby daddy does not pay child support. So she is on a mission to find a rich man, hence the expensive clothes, etc. To each, his own but…
