T A B L E__T A L K What's it worth to make a buck? Tell your horror stories and read those of others in Table Talk   Search for business, personal finance and more at barnesandnoble.com Search by:  Keyword Title Author   R E C E N T L Y Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome ... the Grateful Capitalists! By Larry Kanter Taking their cue from counterculture success stories like the Grateful Dead, radical marketers are building brand loyalty from the ground up (02/26/99) Epidemic of extravagance By Heather Chaplin Economist Robert H. Frank has written a painstakingly researched new book offering a cure to our destructive love of luxury, but will anybody listen? (02/19/98) Van Gogh Inc. By Larry Kanter You've seen the paintings. Now buy the lunch box (02/12/99) House flash By Heather Chaplin If you're struck with the biological urge to own a home, consider first whether it's a good time to buy (02/05/98) The Jordan Effect: What's race got to do with it? By Leon Wynter The colorblind world depicted by Madison Avenue isn't our racial reality yet -- but it's a step in the right direction (01/29/99) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Reluctant Capitalist archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Salon Columnists		[ T H E_.R E L U C T A N T_.C A P I T A L I S T ] bigapplepickpocket For newcomers, New York City is a glittering, thieving con artist that we only notice after we get home and realize we're broke. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BY HEATHER CHAPLIN | There are things one has to accept in life. Some of the things I've resigned myself to over the years include the realization that I will never be 5 feet tall without standing on tiptoe, that it's too late to publish a great work of literature before my 25th birthday and that, no matter how careful I try to be, I will always rack up late fees at the video store. Things I haven't accepted include death and how much money one spends in New York City. I first learned about Manhattan and its strange ability to suck you dry like a merciless vampire when I was 8 and visiting my cousin, who lived at the YMCA with her stand-up comic boyfriend. The street in front of the "Y" was lined with sidewalk vendors, and, like a starving man suddenly faced with a smorgasbord, I went a little nutty over the bright piles of scarves, trays of jewelry and blinking electronic toys. (I had never seen such a spread in Baltimore, where I grew up.) I bought four sets of matching headbands and barrettes, a leopard-print umbrella, a box of multicolored plastic bracelets and a three-inch glass Statue of Liberty for my mom. That night, in my cousin's microscopically small room, I cried, having spent in one afternoon what had taken me two months to save. The Sunday before last, I had a similar reaction when I woke up after a rare night on the town and realized I was $150 poorer than I'd been the morning before. All I had done in the meantime was dare to venture outside my own four walls and into the maze of glittering temptation known as Manhattan. Those who have lived in this city for a substantial amount of time seem immune to the heart-wrenching, pocket-tearing, teeth-baring lust the little island on the Hudson has for their money. But for those of us newer to the area, thwarting Manhattan's constant attacks on one's financial well-being takes the discipline and watchfulness of a guerrilla guarding his comrades in the dead of night. When I was in college -- a 30-minute train ride north of Manhattan -- I developed the vacuum theory, which suggested that there was a network of high-powered vacuums running beneath the city's sidewalks, sucking the money right from your pockets as you unwittingly strolled along. I didn't know how else to explain that my wallet was always empty by the time I boarded Metro-North back to school. No matter how much I calculated and planned and skimped -- and in those days, my main source of income was a $5-an-hour gig at a coffee shop, so this was no joke -- the city left me broke. Was it because I'd got mushrooms and olives on my slice instead of taking it plain? Was it the second Bud? The math never came out. While aspersions cast on my theory have forced me to reevaluate it seriously, I remain convinced that Manhattan, above all other American cities, wants your dollars and will stop at nothing to get them. N E X T+P A G E | Why New York is more expensive than the most expensive cities in the country - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Become a Salon member. Click here.