Tipsy Arguments

Had a fabulous dinner last night at Uva on 2nd Avenue. 4 people, 2 bottles of wine and lots of food made for an interesting evening. At one point the 4 of us got into a bit of a heated debate on my use of the word "luxury". The 4 of us all between the ages of 24-28, were all raised in similar upper middle class/somewhat wealthy families and all work for the same record label on the assistant level. "Receptionist L" made a comment about how she "could never have a job doing something she didn't believe in". She commented on a member of our staff that has a negative attitude and who isn't know for being very proactive in her job (Ms. Mailroom), saying that she didn't understand why she didn't just quit if she didn't like it. I made the point that you can only have Receptionist L's point of view (only taking jobs you truly believe in) if you were raised the way we all were, with considerable personal/familial wealth to keep us afloat, that her perspective was "a luxury" that people (like Ms. Mailroom) who struggle just to feed and house their family every month do not have the ability to have. I was trying to make the point that we all should feel lucky to work where we work, but Exec Asst. A said it was ridiculous to think that none of us should aspire to have more "important" (for lack of a better word) jobs just because other people don't chose that life. My whole point was that for some people there is no choice to be made, that the necessities are life are all they can provide, but nobody seemed to get my point. (Personal Asst M sat quietly through the conversation, interjecting only to say that he liked his job and had no aspirations to work his way up, that he appreciated working in the music industry and that he liked the balance he currently had of work/personal life). I was incensed that nobody was understanding what I was saying. Of course I would love to have another job where I am doing work that is more meaningful to me, and of course I work towards attaining it, but I also acknowledge that I can only be in the position that I am because I'm lucky and because of the circumstances I was born into. I hate it when people raised like we all were don't get that, that everything is about entitlement. I have such a low tolerance for that, especially after 1/2 a bottle of wine. I guess such conversations are not to be had over drinks.