S10.E11: Clearing the Heir

[FozzyBear]

I sort of don’t understand Jackie’s finances either. She has family money, but then said something about her parents no being able to afford fancy parties when she was a kid. So the money came later? In time for her mom to buy her boyfriend’s engagement ring for some reason I still don’t understand? But not in time to to pay taxes for their criminal case? Was that what they went to jail for? I sort of assumed that, but I’ve never been clear. Does any of this have to do with the estranged sister? Why is Jackie even on the show? She’s private (or so we’ve been told) and doesn’t need the money and doesn’t seem to be promoting anything and sort of seems to hate it, so why? Does she need the money? Was she supposed to have another storyline that never took off? So many questions. I don’t think I’ve had tequila in 15 years (I’ve never liked it), but if I had a margarita and was unlucky enough to be seated next to Jennifer I would have been passing her questions to ask. Jackie, what’s up boo?

[LibertarianSlut]

Jackie said she grew up on Staten Island, and her family didn’t have money until she was 13.  I think those were ill-gotten gains, because her parents weren’t incarcerated until she was older.

Best guess as to why she came on the show?  There’s good evidence that she was a close follower of Teresa since the beginning, so she probably combed the show for years, grinned lazily at Evan and said, “ya know, Evan, I can do better than that.”  She probably came on the show thinking she was going to be a combo of Bethenny and Carole from RHNYC:  above-it-all writer girl who would watch and observe and either make Teresa her minion—a feat that’s never occurred on Bravo—or go to war with Teresa and expose her (“WOULD YOUR HUSBAND BE IN JAIL if you could control him?”) and I think she underestimated fan loyalty and overestimated how far a degree from Fordham Law would get her on Bravo if she allows the likes of Dolores Catania get to her.  I hate Bethenny and Carole, but they both had more formidable presences than Jackie.  Jackie may be good at making long term plans, but she’s not good at improvising.  I think that was the final nail in Carole’s coffin on RHNYC as well—when Bethenny served it to Carole at the season 10 reunion, with some real low-blows and all that, Carole didn’t really know how to get in the gutter to respond, and she was off the show soon thereafter.

That’s why I like the Jennifer-Jackie friendship (RIP).  They were like yin and yang.  There is no future on this show for a Jackie-Melissa alliance. They’re too milquetoast and Melissa’s loyalty will always be to the almighty dollar, which is her presence on this show, which means she’d pick Teresa over Jackie if it came down to it. 

[FozzyBear]

4 minutes ago, LibertarianSlut said:

Jackie said she grew up on Staten Island, and her family didn’t have money until she was 13.  I think those were ill-gotten gains, because her parents weren’t incarcerated until she was older.

Best guess as to why she came on the show?  There’s good evidence that she was a close follower of Teresa since the beginning, so she probably combed the show for years, grinned lazily at Evan and said, “ya know, Evan, I can do better than that.”  She probably came on the show thinking she was going to be a combo of Bethenny and Carole from RHNYC:  above-it-all writer girl who would watch and observe and either make Teresa her minion—a feat that’s never occurred on Bravo—or go to war with Teresa and expose her (“WOULD YOUR HUSBAND BE IN JAIL if you could control him?”) and I think she underestimated fan loyalty and overestimated how far a degree from Fordham Law would get her on Bravo if she allows the likes of Dolores Catania get to her.  I hate Bethenny and Carole, but they both had more formidable presences than Jackie.  Jackie may be good at making long term plans, but she’s not good at improvising.  I think that was the final nail in Carole’s coffin on RHNYC as well—when Bethenny served it to Carole at the season 10 reunion, with some real low-blows and all that, Carole didn’t really know how to get in the gutter to respond, and she was off the show soon thereafter.

That’s why I like the Jennifer-Jackie friendship (RIP).  They were like yin and yang.  There is no future on this show for a Jackie-Melissa alliance. They’re too milquetoast and Melissa’s loyalty will always be to the almighty dollar, which is her presence on this show, which means she’d pick Teresa over Jackie if it came down to it. 

So this is a personal preference that means nothing to anyone else, but I am way more comfortable with people doing these shows for money than any other reason. Like with Teressa, I don’t like her and never have but I seriously roll my eyes when anyone tries to ask why she’s doing the show or books or Super Bowl commercials or anything. Because she owes money! Lots of money!   Teresa shows up even when she visibly hates it because she needs the money. I get that. I’ve taken jobs or worked with people I can’t stand because the rent was due. The idea that I could be better at throwing glassware or that I could become a fan favorite for my ability to have more fights than other Housewives is just...hard to relate to.

in any case I’m somewhat ambivalent about Jackie. Some days I like her, some days I don’t. I thought her party was fine. Of course I thought the it was fine when Jennifer had everyone over last season. I think they should lay off each other and both be mad at Margaret for stirring shit up.

[Luckylondon]

Living in NY state for most of my life, my understanding is that you need to get a masters degree within 5 years of being hired as a teacher in public school system. So you can be hired at 22 to teach high school, however you need to be actively working on the Masters degree and earn it relatively quickly to get a faculty position at any grade level. 
 

Regarding the job of being a “buyer” at Macy’s, I don’t know what is required; however, it is a somewhat advanced job that Teresa does not seem to have the education requirements for the position. Tre is 3 years older than me. My roommate at our Ivy League school graduated with a degree in Consumer Economics and was hired to be a buyer at Macy’s through campus recruiting and had the position secured during Spring semester of our senior year to begin September 1st. She was not a genius, yet a smart person with good grades at a top school and an interest in fashion and finance. She went on to a higher level buyer position at Ann Taylor Loft and continued working there and commuting to Manhattan after getting married and moving to a North Jersey suburb. She eventually went on extended maternity leave and then returned to a part time position from home 2 days and office 1 day per week somewhere that was not these large retail giants and she was intensely busy. It’s not an overly impressive position like Investment banking training program, yet it is no slouch fluff position either and requires skills and education. I can’t imagine my friend and Teresa at remotely even comparable positions. The social refinement required alone would make it impossible for Teresa to be a “buyer” as we here collectively seem to understand the position. An assistant buyer/retail manager or some hybrid made up exaggerated version of a brief full time job at Macy’s in a retail store (rather than corporate) is more likely... in my opinion... based on some limited exposure to these positions and people who work at them in NYC. Teresa was not even close to my friend’s education level, business acumen, economic knowledge or social presentation (not even going there on her fashion sense and knowledge).