Monkey Labor Union

In honor of Labor Day and all you monkeys who do not get to barbeque, lounge on the sofa and fall asleep under the late Summer son, this post is for you. While your friends and family enjoy the day reserved for celebrating not going to work, that is precisely where you find yourself. Today, like every day for the monkeys of Wall Street... just another day.

With recent market turmoil, banker firings and a potential $200 billion dollar legal check being dropped in Wall Street's lap, now is certainly not the time to expect a day off. I just figured I would remind you guys what I am sure many of you remind yourselves daily. This is all a part of the game. Like a smart fellow once told me "banking is a war of attrition". Days like today are a good time to kick back and reflect while you perform your mind numbing tasks, while the rest of the country fires up the grill and cracks open a cold one.

You had heard all of the stories. The 100 hour work weeks. The indentured servitude to your MD and VPs. The mind numbing tasks. The repetition. The competition. The spreadsheets. The endless, growing, ever expanding spreadsheets...

You didn't care, though. Making three or four times as much as your friends a few months out of school was too appealing. The potential exit ops and end game of wealth and power were too tempting. Screw screwing around, you exclaimed. Days like today are the ones that can test your resolve, so don't give into them. It takes a lot of brains and even more balls to deny yourself the simple pleasures in favor of something bigger and better down the road.

Keep that in mind today when your friends shoot you drunk texts from the beachside bonfires and the poolside parties. There is a daily future of those events waiting for you, just crack open the next Red Bull and keep on grinding it out. I admire and respect you guys a ton for your determination...but admittedly, I have to go now. There are some filets and a case of brews waiting for me.