The Wall Street That I Once Knew No Longer Exists
I don’t lament the loss of the macho trading culture. But I do lament the loss of risk-taking. That’s what made it thrilling and fun.
Wall Street just isn’t the same.
Photographer: Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
I graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1996. It was a tough time to attend one of the U.S. Service Academies, and I suffered all manner of indignities. I was once shaved with a bayonet by an upperclassman. I was made to do 2,000 push-ups in a day. And with 101 days to go until graduation, the barracks were turned into a war zone known as “101st Night,” with round-the-clock hazing and physical discipline that bordered on abuse. My class’s experience with 101st Night was so extreme that it was immediately banned from then on.
My memories of that period in my life are pretty good, however. It was a crucible, of sorts, and I’m glad I went through it because it gave me the mental toughness that I have today. The Coast Guard is no longer like that, and it was in the process of transforming into a “kinder, gentler” service toward the end of my tenure at the Academy. In last year’s “Swab Summer,” the Coast Guard Academy’s version of basic training, they banned yelling.