Card Carrying: The Copywriter Spending $600 on a Dog Hotel
In this week’s Card Carrying, SPY’s ongoing exploration of how men dispose of their disposable income, a 21st-century ad-man hands over his credit card statement and explains why his dog is staying at what seems to be a five-star hotel.
Subject Job: Copywriter for a Major Fashion Brand
Subject Age: 32
Subject Status: Married
Subject Location: NYC
Subject Salary: $108,000
December 18
Charge: Dickinson’s Antiques, Beacon, $38
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Over the past year and a half, I’ve gotten into a habit of buying vintage film cameras. On a day trip upstate, to Beacon, I came across a cool one at Dickinson’s Antiques: a Bell & Howell vintage camera that came with a strap and a little leather case. It was $38. I don’t sell cameras, but I like to look at what they go for, just to see if it’s a good deal. This one was fetching a slightly higher price elsewhere, so I jumped on it. Since I bought it, I’ve been cleaning it out; it had a lot of battery corrosion. I’ve been trying to be a little more judicious with how much I shoot — film is just so pricey — but that’ll be the next camera I take out. Hopefully, it works.
December 19
Charge: PacSun, $18.90
This Christmas, my wife — we just got married in January — had an idea for us to just do stocking stuffers for each other. Not just candy, but gifts that fit into a stocking — the goal was to get creative with it. My wife loves museums, especially The Met. Last year, PacSun launched a collab with The Met with a bunch of T-shirts and cool stuff. One was a ringer tee that had the big Met logo on it; I bought it as one of my stocking stuffers for her. I learned, in this process, that the Gen Z kids like PacSun. Part of my work as a copywriter is in social media, and every time a TikTok best practice comes up, PacSun is somehow involved.
December 22
Charge: Rolfs Restaurant, $68.72
Rolf’s is an iconic Christmas location. I’d never been but had seen pictures of all the lights. I’m a big Christmas person. I love the atmosphere, especially in New York. And so, finally, my wife and I made a real effort to go. We walked in and it was insanely packed. They don’t show you the prices of anything. They just have a menu that they throw in your face. I ordered two mulled wines. The server immediately gave me the ticket to pay. It was about $60 before tip. I’m glad I went, but I probably won’t be going back. I think I can do a little bit better than $70 for two drinks.
December 23
Charge: DraftKings Sportsbook, $5
When sports gambling became legal in New York, I started dabbling. It’s just a fun way to watch a game with friends, even if I’m not a fan of the team. Then, one time, about two summers ago, I made a $10 bet and won $1,000. Since then, I’ve been using that money to fund all these stupid little bets — also, I used it to help pay for my wife’s engagement ring.
This bet is on a soccer game: Liverpool versus Arsenal. I have a friend who’s a big Liverpool fan. We went and watched the game and I put down a little cheeky $5 bet on Liverpool to win. Unfortunately, it was a draw. I did not get my $8 winnings.
January 2
Charge: Depop, $100.99
This is so embarrassing. I’m a big fan of the singer Mayer Hawthorne — he’s a soul/R&B artist out of Detroit. My wife and I both follow his wife on Instagram, as well. One day, she posted a bunch of things she was selling on Depop — she was like, “We’re having a baby and we’re trying to clean out our closet!” There was this cool sweater and vintage button-up gold silk shirt [of Hawthorne’s]. I thought, it’s really weird to buy these, but I’m buying them because I think they look cool — not because I’m sitting there smelling them or anything. I’m just always so jealous of this guy’s style.
We even went to Hawthorne’s concert after I bought the clothes; he played in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the end of January. My wife was like, “Are you going to wear his shirt?” Absolutely not. Can you imagine if Mayer looked out into the crowd and saw some weird nerd wearing his clothes? Oh my god.
January 8
Charge: Levain Bakery, $305
In January, my wife and I got married in Queens; we wanted everything to be very of the city. A few days before our wedding, we decided we wanted to have some late-night snacks for everybody. We settled on Levain cookies, as a way to introduce people from out of town to something cool from New York.
January 12
Veniero’s, $169.38
This one is also wedding-related. Veniero’s is an old Italian bakery in the East Village, where we used to live. It’s one of our favorites. I went down there to pick up four cheesecakes for the wedding, which served as our wedding cakes. My dad came to help me lug them, because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to carry four cheesecakes on my own, plus my suit from a nearby dry-cleaner.
January 16
Charge: Hotel Bark Ave, $664.14
Hotel Bark Ave is where we board our precious angel, Cleo, an Australian cattle dog and pitbull mix. We found this place when we moved to the Upper East Side. That $664.14 charge was to board Cleo for our whole honeymoon — we went to the Dominican Republic. She really likes it, there, too. And it’s awesome — they don’t even have kennels. It’s a whole open space with a backyard. They also post, like, 30 Instagram stories a day of every single dog there. Half of our honeymoon was just us refreshing the Hotel Bark Ave Instagram page.
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