Was Tricia Walsh Smith justified in using YouTube to tell her story?

No

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by Shanna Riley

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As hard as I try, it's difficult for me to dredge up much-if any-sympathy for the "plight" of Tricia Walsh Smith. She is, as you may have heard by now, the misaligned soon-to-be ex-wife of Shubert Organization's president Philip Smith.

The wealthy, Broadway maven Smith, twenty-five years his wife's senior, has opted to enact a clause in their prenuptial agreement stating he can "evict" his wife from their home after thirty days if there are grounds for divorce. Tricia Smith claims no such grounds exist. She insists her husband of nine years has-without explanation or warning-decided to kick her out of their ritzy nine-room Park Avenue apartment in New York with no help or money.

There's always more to the story and key elements appear to be missing from this one. Surely there is a reason that Mr. Smith is not only divorcing his wife but kicking her out without so much as a "thank you, here's the tip". In the video Tricia claimed she had never been unfaithful, but cried about her husband leaving her to foot $80,000 in debt on her own. Perhaps it wasn't infidelity that angered Mr. Smith, but his wife's obvious penchant for spending his hard-earned money?

It's interesting to think that Tricia Smith, living in her posh socialite bubble, honestly believes the people of the world-who have to earn their money by working rather than marrying wealthy old men-really would be sympathetic to her gold digging cries of injustice. She claims, in an interview I saw with her, that-to her-this is a matter "of life and death" and the video was made in sheer desperation for the sake of her own survival. She states, repeatedly, that she will be left with "nothing".

This is hard to believe. Even if Tricia is divorced and not given a dime hereafter from her ex-husband's considerable coffers, it is ridiculous to believe that the woman will have nothing at all to live off of or call her own. "Nothing", in Tricia's world, isn't the Ramen Noodles-til-next-pay check "nothing" of the average person's reality; it's the idea of living less than the means she has become accustomed to. Tricia's "nothing" amounts to living somewhere under the $1,000,000/year bracket yet-*gasp!*-above the $60,000/year bracket. Will she struggle and suffer? Likely her new and less-rich lifestyle will take some getting used to; will she be spending this Christmas warming her hands over a free meal at a local soup kitchen before heading back to her cardboard box? Sources point to no.

In a world where people-indeed, children-are starving to death every single day, it's hard to feel even a little bit of empathy for someone shedding tears over having to live "a little less rich". Most of us who have to work-and work hard-to simply make our way, with little left over for luxuries or even to save, have a hard time feeling sorry for a woman who is bemoaning the fact that she isn't getting a chunk of money she didn't earn in the first place.

Tricia seems to believe that marriage to an old, sexless crone is deserving of some pay and compensation; paychecks for the time she's put in, paid in full, and severance pay, thank you very much. And, oh!, the horrid things the "poor vulnerable Tricia" (as the yellow text on her video claims she is) has had to endure! She gleefully regales the camera, and Mr. Smith's poor assistant, with his lack of desire to copulate with her and her later discovery of his stash of "Viagra, con-doms, and porn tapes". She claims she was "an 'effin idiot" for believing that he could not have sex-as he told her-due to his high-blood pressure" and states the couple have never consummated the marriage.

Which leads me to one part of the video that bothered me more than the lunatic rantings of a googly-eyed nut; was putting the assistant on the spot like that really necessary? Tricia calls the woman up-in the middle of a work day, mind you-and starts blathering on about she and her husband's sexless marriage. She then decides to tell this young woman about his stash of "Viagra, con-doms, and porn tapes" and insists the assistant go and ask him-right now-what she should do with his con-doms. You know, because every assistant gets paid enough money to put up with crazy phone calls during work from her boss's wife. That was so uncalled for and shows you just how much Tricia really cares about anyone but herself - in other words, not at all.

Tricia claims, in the interview I saw, that she was "nice" with the video and simply told of her plight. I don't call showing a photo of your stepdaughter to the world and calling her a "bad, bad, bad person" very "nice"; but maybe that's just me. I also don't call harassing your husband's staff while they're trying to do their jobs very "nice" either; but again, maybe that's just me. I sure don't believe airing your family's personal and private affairs for the world to see is very "nice"; but...well you get the idea.

When it comes down to it, Tricia is just another self-absorbed, whiny, spoiled, rich, trophy wife who believes she's getting shunted out of money she feels is well-deserved and hard-earned. When she felt no other avenue was left open to her, she decided to air her and her husband's private affairs to the world at large - throwing a pouty, teary-eyed temper tantrum while showing off all that she would be losing; all the while expecting us to feel sorry for her and someone to step up and rescue her from the "mean, bad husband".

What she fails to realize is that from outside of the small, elite world that she exists in, the majority of us don't truly care about her or her "life and death situation". There are people in the world with real needs and who are experiencing true suffering. In light of that, it's hard to feel anything but disdain for someone like Tricia Walsh Smith; a woman who wants very much for doing very little and is upset she can't get it.

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