In response to/conversation with Ron and Bug’s posts this morning: I think it’s important to remember that while Vegan Fred Boyet seems to be the confident 21-year-old who has his life together, in contrast to the Kingston Flatmates- the only thing Vegan Fred actually has together is his professional life, and that’s only because he has the generational wealth from his parents to be able to start his own coffee chain from scratch. He does make it successful due to his own baking and cooking and marketing skills, but he has the safety net of wealth the whole time, and that is a huge leg up in starting a business. No other 21-year-old could do it because they’re all struggling to pay rent. Vegan Fred also seems to be pretty lonely. He clearly wants a boyfriend and wants that boyfriend to be Balthazar. But he also lives entirely alone in a huge house and can’t get flatmates any way other than by saving some 19-year-olds from interpersonal disaster, because no one else can afford to split rent with him and I imagine many people are uncomfortable “taking charity” by living there for free if they can afford other options. We don’t see much of his life, but we don’t see him with any friends other than these kids he ‘rescued.’ Vegan Fred does not have his social life together at all. And that’s not to say “poor little rich boy”, but to point out that there is no shortcut to happiness. Vegan Fred’s money and security doesn’t make him or the Tent Team happy. It isn’t enough to get Balthazar to choose him. The flatmates don’t have the luxury of generational wealth at all- of course compared to Boyet they look like a mess. The vast majority of late teen and 20-something folks are. The flatmates have to work for their living and their happiness- and that would be a lot easier if they could communicate with their partners. Working on communication is what will make all of them happy.
