How much does Lorelai Gilmore really make?
KT
Real-life median salary: $47,420 for a lodging manager, according to the BLS
It's tough to guess the income of an inn owner in a fictional town, but
the annual median salary for a lodging manager gives us a starting point
for imagining Lorelai's paycheck. Since she doesn't pay for her daughter
Rory's college tuition (Rory's newly rich dad covered that), most of
Lorelai's income appears to fuel her caffeine addiction.
From
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=911
Rob Jensen
>Lorelai Gilmore, "Gilmore Girls" -- Inn Owner
>Real-life median salary: $47,420 for a lodging manager, according to the BLS
>
>It's tough to guess the income of an inn owner in a fictional town, but
>the annual median salary for a lodging manager gives us a starting point
>for imagining Lorelai's paycheck.
This is useful -- EXCEPT that Lorelai OWNS the Dragonfly, she doesn't
just manage it. But we've got a baseline salary for her for when she
was managing the Independence and due to the difference in size of the
Independence (when it was intact) and the Dragonfly, I won't adjust
the salary for a guesstimate of what she was making at the
Independence.
My guess is that Lorelai probably makes a bit *more* than $47K per
year as the majority owner of the Dragonfly (I think it's a 51-49
split between her and Sookie) -- perhaps a total of about $60K since
she's been able to stash away enough money since the Dragonfly opened
to afford to buy a new car even though she eventually didn't.
>Since she doesn't pay for her daughter
>Rory's college tuition (Rory's newly rich dad covered that), most of
>Lorelai's income appears to fuel her caffeine addiction.
Except that, as we know from Secrets and Loans, Lorelai still had a
huge mortgage on the Crap Shack and, although unmentioned, the
mortgage on the Jeep (which was too new to be totally paid off at that
point.) Add to that health insurance for both her and Rory (which has
cost an arm and three legs since HMOs became popular), various other
personal insurance policies (Life, Home, Fire, Car Insurance for her
on the Jeep, Car Insurance for Roryon the Jeep), a lot of take-out
food, clothing and makeup (for both her and Rory) and IMO most of her
money didn't go to her caffeine addiction (although she spent a lot on
caffeine) -- it went to everyday life. Thus, she was disqualified
from a loan for the $15K that the rebuild of the porch was going to
cost. She just wasn't solvent at the time.
> From
>http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=911
I think article writers need to pay more attention to the shows they
write about even when they're business reporters and not entertainment
reporters.
-- Rob
--
LORELAI: I am so done with plans. I am never, ever making one again.
It never works. I spend the day obsessing over why it didn't work
and what I could've done differently. I'm analyzing all my shortcomings
when all I really need to be doing is vowing to never, ever make a plan
ever again, which I'm doing now, having once again been the innocent
victim of my own stupid plans. God, I need some coffee.
William George Ferguson
>On Wed, 30 May 2007 16:28:45 -0400, KT <no...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>>Lorelai Gilmore, "Gilmore Girls" -- Inn Owner
>>Real-life median salary: $47,420 for a lodging manager, according to the BLS
>>
>>It's tough to guess the income of an inn owner in a fictional town, but
>>the annual median salary for a lodging manager gives us a starting point
>>for imagining Lorelai's paycheck.
>
>This is useful -- EXCEPT that Lorelai OWNS the Dragonfly, she doesn't
>just manage it. But we've got a baseline salary for her for when she
>was managing the Independence and due to the difference in size of the
>Independence (when it was intact) and the Dragonfly, I won't adjust
>the salary for a guesstimate of what she was making at the
>Independence.
>
>My guess is that Lorelai probably makes a bit *more* than $47K per
>year as the majority owner of the Dragonfly (I think it's a 51-49
>split between her and Sookie) -- perhaps a total of about $60K since
>she's been able to stash away enough money since the Dragonfly opened
>to afford to buy a new car even though she eventually didn't.
>
A key thing to note is that figure is the median for a lodging manager, not
the mean (average). A significant chunk of lodging managers make a very
samll salary and get their housing free (making it relatively common to see
retired couples doing this). Of the rest, only a relatively small
percentage would be managers of upscale inns like the Independence or
Dragonfly. I'm willing to bet that the mean in this field is considerably
higher than the median, with the top 30% or so making considerably more
than that, and the bottom 20% making almost nothing (but getting free
housing).
In-show (whether it's believable or not), it was established that they were
in the black after the first year of operation. By this, the third year,
Lorelai and Sookie can probably both be taking six-figure incomes out of
the profits (although they probably plough a some of that back into the
business to improve and expand).
The inn has been profitable enough that a big chain was trying to buy it
out and headhunt Lorelai.
--
I have a theory, it could be bunnies
Jerry Davis
"Rob Jensen" <Shut...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:791s535nun6lasohv...@4ax.com...
Did she ever pay back Luke? She borrowed a wad o'cash from him when she ran
out right at the end of construction, as I recall.
Rob Jensen
Yes, the Inn was in the black by this season, *however,* Lorelai does
state that she's only really got enough stashed away to be able to buy
a new car ($20-$30K at MOST). They've clearly put some of the revenue
(not profits) from the Dragonfly into getting rid of that ugly brown
van and buying a pretty blue SUV that Lor was driving around while the
Jeep got fixed.
Furthermore, as Lorelai states in Bon Voyage almost every time Emily
broaches the subject of the spa, Lorelai flat-out states that she
doesn't have the money to do it.
IMO that all adds up to Lor being comfortably upper-middle class but
hardly rolling in the dough. She could probably qualify for the loans
for Rory's Chilton tuition on her own now, but that's about it.
Moreover, I'd say that if they're in the black now, then they've
pretty much plateaued to as much as they can expand without bringing
in another partner -- which means that Lor and Sookies' incomes from
the Dragonfly are more or less going to be upper-middle-class
adjustable to the cost of living for as long as the Dragonfly stays
the size that it is.
>The inn has been profitable enough that a big chain was trying to buy it
>out and headhunt Lorelai.
To be technical about that, though, RICHARD had directed the
headhunters to seek Lorelai out to franchise the Inn (and he was
prodding her to go see them), basically the same thing that he did to
Luke during their golf date in season 5, but far more subtly.
Rob Jensen
wrote:
Lorelai made him accept a repayment schedule on a napkin after he had
initially refused to listen to any repayment talk. The Dragonfly's in
the black and has been since before Lor broke up with him at the end
of s6, so I'd say that the loan was *easily* repaid back and on the
schedule that Lorelai wrote down on the napkin. Might even explain
why funds were still so tight in the first year that they had to
eliminate lunches for a time -- Lor was sticking to her repayment
schedule, as a compulsive listmaker/nitpicker like Lor always does.
Sharpe Fan
>
> Furthermore, as Lorelai states in Bon Voyage almost every time Emily
> broaches the subject of the spa, Lorelai flat-out states that she
> doesn't have the money to do it.
>
[snipped]
>
> -- Rob
If the Dragonfly had an annual profit of $10 million they wouldn't make
enough to afford any Emily idea - at least in Lorelai's mind.
Sharpe Fan
Rob Jensen
Except that I don't think that Lorelai was dismissing the concept -- I
think she was seriously considering it. If Lorelai was dismissing the
concept of the spa out of hand just because Emily suggested it, Lor
would have turned it into a huge running joke the first time Emily
brought it up, but instead, she emphasizes that she doesn't have the
money to do it.
-- Rob
Sharpe Fan
> On Thu, 31 May 2007 14:05:37 GMT, "Sharpe Fan"
> <sharpeseagl...@yahooNoSpamm.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Rob Jensen" <Shut...@aol.com> wrote in message
>>news:bhjs531neehc6dhe2...@4ax.com...
>>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 19:13:10 -0700, William George Ferguson
>>> <wmgf...@newsguy.com> wrote:
>>>
>>[snipped]
>>
>>>
>>> Furthermore, as Lorelai states in Bon Voyage almost every time Emily
>>> broaches the subject of the spa, Lorelai flat-out states that she
>>> doesn't have the money to do it.
>>>
>>[snipped]
>>
>>>
>>> -- Rob
>>
>>If the Dragonfly had an annual profit of $10 million they wouldn't make
>>enough to afford any Emily idea - at least in Lorelai's mind.
>
> Except that I don't think that Lorelai was dismissing the concept -- I
> think she was seriously considering it. If Lorelai was dismissing the
> concept of the spa out of hand just because Emily suggested it, Lor
> would have turned it into a huge running joke the first time Emily
> brought it up, but instead, she emphasizes that she doesn't have the
> money to do it.
>
> -- Rob
> --
I think that was just her polite way of trying to stop Emily - not realizing
that the hope of floating Lorelai a loan (and thus guaranteeing more FND)
was the real reason for the suggestions in the first place.
Sharpe Fan
Rob Jensen
<sharpeseagl...@yahooNoSpamm.com> wrote:
Since when does Lorelai do anything polite in response to anything
Emily suggests that Lorelai feels infringes on Lorelai's own life and
security?
Yep. Never.
That's why I think that Lorelai's reactions in the episode are to be
genuinely interested in the spa idea -- she never shoots it down
outright the way that she generally shoots Emily's ideas down -- but
dreading the idea that Emily wants to buy into the Dragonfly to do it.
Note that Lorelai says to Emly that "We'll talk it over at Friday
Night Dinner" -- not as a put down, but as genuine interesti n
continuing FND and without any dismissal of the idea in and of itself,
like she not only genuinely wants to continue FNDs but wants to
discuss the spa idea.
Sharpe Fan
She says they will discuss it at FND to let Emily know the dinners will
continue without making it too obvious that she realizes Emily's suggestions
were just a way to continue the dinners.
She was interested in continuing the dinners, but she was also interested in
sparing her mother's feelings.
Sharpe Fan
Mickey
> That's why I think that Lorelai's reactions in the episode are to be
> genuinely interested in the spa idea -- she never shoots it down
> outright the way that she generally shoots Emily's ideas down -- but
> dreading the idea that Emily wants to buy into the Dragonfly to do it.
> Note that Lorelai says to Emly that "We'll talk it over at Friday
> Night Dinner" -- not as a put down, but as genuine interesti n
> continuing FND and without any dismissal of the idea in and of itself,
> like she not only genuinely wants to continue FNDs but wants to
> discuss the spa idea.
>
Or maybe she recognized the spa idea for what it was, another attempt by
Emily to keep Lorelei in her life. By inviting herself to dinner,
Lorelei acknowledges a permanent change in her relationship with her
mother and ties up yet another plot string. Another reason not to flog a
dead horse; it's over.
Mickey
Rob Jensen
<sharpeseagl...@yahooNoSpamm.com> wrote:
Nope.
AT FND in Bon Voyage:
When Emily brings up the idea and both she and Richard really pitch it
to Lorelai, Lor says she doesn't think she can afford it, then the
conversation ends just as Rory comes into the room with news about her
job, Emily concludes the idea with:
Emily says: "Will you think about it before you say no?"
Lorelai replies: "Yes, I will think about it."
If she were intending to dismiss Emily's idea, she *wouldn't* spare
Emily's feelings, she'd echo Emily's question this way:
EMILY: Will you think about it before you say no?
LORELAI: Yes, I will think about it before I say no.
IMO You're making a paralogical conclusion.
Just because Lorelai is sparing Emily's feelings doesn't prove that
she's disinterested in Emily's idea. Lorelai sparing Emily's feelings
generally shows that Lorelai *is* interested in what Emily's idea is.
Then, early in the day at the Bon Voyage Party, Emily asks Lor if
she's thought about the spa idea and Lor says that she's not
interested, an honest turn-down, not an curt, abrupt
stay-out-of-my-life dismissal like Emily dismisses Lor with and
vice-versa (like Mother, like daughter)
Then Emily comes back at her late at the party, after dark, as she's
leaving and suggests that they do a tennis court instead, suggests a
loan no interest, standard terms, etc. Lor says, "Mom, why don't we
just talk about it Friday night at dinner?"
Yes, the subtext is *partly* that Emily is trying to use the spa idea
and other tactics to get out of Lorelai whether or not she wants to
keep on doing FNDs, but also Lorelai flat-out asks, "Why don't we just
talk about it Friday night at dinner?" As opposed to "at Friday Night
Dinner?" The normalization of having dinner with Emily & Richard on
Friday night as just a family practice rather than a legal obligation
not only states the subtext that Lor *wants* to keep doing the FNDs
but that she's also still open to talking about *something* regarding
an addition to the Inn.
Moreover, given Kelly Bishop's comments in her interview with the
Washington Post on May 15th, about how she felt that the episode
didn't tie up Lor and Emily's storyline as much as it specifically set
up the next storyline, I think that the subtext of the scenes can only
be taken in the context of their being the set-up for Lor and Em's arc
next season -- ie: their becoming business partners in the spa idea. I
think there was also another ulterior motive in setting the spa idea
up due to a certain other cast consideration (ie: not Alexis, but it's
obvious nevertheless), but I think that Bishop was in that interview
revealing the actual plan for the storyline and it's why she blasts
that the season finale becoming the series finale is to quote the WaPo
writer quoting Bishop ' "disrespectful" to the fans.'
IOW, she's saying that not just the subtext is true, the TEXT is true.
I don't think she'd be openly blasting the show in frustration if she
hadn't already been told that the spa storyline (that IIRC, Ausiello
said was her own idea) wasn't going to be the actual arc for the
Lor-Em relationship in s8.
Anne
"Sharpe Fan" <sharpeseagl...@yahooNoSpamm.com> wrote in message
news:AeK8i.52912
[snip]
|
| She says they will discuss it at FND to let Emily know the dinners will
| continue without making it too obvious that she realizes Emily's
suggestions
| were just a way to continue the dinners.
|
| She was interested in continuing the dinners, but she was also interested
in
| sparing her mother's feelings.
I agree completely with this interpretation. She was sparing her mother's
feelings regarding the ideas which were getting more and more out of hand in
terms of ways to get Lorelai back on the payroll and obligated to FNDs.
Lorelai was letting Emily off the hook without being rude (showing growth
and some hope for increased maturity in the relationship as per it being a
finale) and giving her the gift of obligation-free FNDs in the same vein.
Rob Jensen
It's both.
>Another reason not to flog a dead horse; it's over.
No, it's not. And it clearly was intended to be the direction of the
Lor-Em storyline in s8.