But the legions of young bankers flooding the Street today I find quite disturbing.
All their constant chatter about work-life balance, hitting the gym at lunch and eating organic vegetables is ludicrous. Even being forced to slog late into the night has become a cause for complaint.
They just don’t get it. If junior associates don’t stay up until the wee hours poring over their Bloomberg screens and churning out pitch-perfect PowerPoint presentations, then who will?
So imagine my disdain when one young banker joined my crew and I at Captain’s Bar, claiming to be there for a drink but really because he needed an outlet for his grievances.
He poured out his angst, so much so that I almost stormed out when he moaned about leaving work at 10pm every day. But then his story got interesting.
One day this summer, he told us, the office wasn’t particularly busy and most people were on vacation — though not his eagle-eyed boss.
At 7pm this fellow thought he could head off quietly for an evening with his mates and stealthily packed his bags to leave. But just as he was about to exit the elevator, his phone buzzed.
It was his boss, and the message read: “I didn’t realise you took half a day off."
The young ones need to realise: they just can’t win.