How Gilmore Girls Do Money: Lorelai and Rory

“I mean, I read the article, but I don’t agree with you,” Lorelai said. “Everyone has a hard time making money when they’re young.”

“I know,” Rory said, “but statistically the Millennial generation is both working harder and earning less money than previous generations. We’re earning what people would have earned in 1984.”

“You’re earning much more than I was in 1984,” Lorelai said. “That was the year you were born. I was a hotel housemaid and we were living in a shed. I’d ask if you remembered that time, but you were too busy learning how to roll over.”

“Right,” Rory said, patiently, “but you also got that job by walking up to the Independence Inn and asking for work. You can’t do that anymore.”

“But—”

“Plus you weren’t paying rent,” Rory said.

“It was a shed!” Lorelai said. “Who pays rent on a shed?”

Rory’s hand automatically went to her iPhone, but stopped before asking Siri to show them The Worst Room. “You also—Mom, you also got three months at home with me before you started working.”

“I was sixteen,” Lorelai said. “I wasn’t supposed to be working. I was supposed to be going to school. I gave all of that up for you, and I worked hard, and we had no money, and it hurts me that you think your life is worse. Your life is better because I made it better for you.”

Rory heard all of this, took a deep breath, and kept going. “Let’s say I was pregnant. There’s no maternity leave. The office is so small that they don’t even offer FMLA. I get to save up my vacation days, which means that I get two weeks of paid leave and the option of taking an additional four weeks of unpaid leave if I want. Six weeks, Mom. Then I’ve got to figure out infant daycare, which costs as much as Chilton. You got to take me to work in a Snugli.”

“Wait, are you—”

“My rent takes a third of my income. My health insurance is okay, but it’s not going to cover everything. Even if I use what’s left of Dad and Grandpa’s money there won’t be enough.”

“Rory—”

“Plus I work 12-hour days, Mom. I’m part of the news cycle in an election season!”

Lorelai reached across the table and grabbed Rory’s hand. “Rory, are you pregnant?”

Rory smiled. Then she started crying. Lorelai got up and hugged her. “Oh, Rory, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be better than okay. We’re all going to help. Me and Luke and my mom, she’s going to be so excited, and maybe Sookie, and Kirk has started selling baby stuff on Facebook, he swears it isn’t a multi-level marketing scheme, and Lane is going to have so much good advice, because the twins are great, they’re like the best kids, and wow, Rory, we’re going to do this. Do I get to say ‘it takes a village’ again, now that Hillary’s a candidate?”

“I don’t want to ask you all for help,” Rory said, sniffling.

“Of course you don’t,” Lorelai said. “You’re a Gilmore girl.”

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