As the premature and increasingly surreal and ridiculous presidential debates continue, we can expect to hear more about the growing gap between rich and poor Americans. The Democrats plan to focus their campaigns on the needs of whom they perceive to be the poor, but in New York City it’s harder to label an individual’s economic status based on the usual liberal stereotypes: Those who work in the service industry here are likely to be earning the same salary as those holding loftier job positions.

Apparently not many politicians are aware of this, but I did expect some community leaders to have a more realistic assessment of their constituents. However, they seem to be just as clueless. When Herman Badillo was on a book tour earlier this year, a director of a Latino policy group described one affair at the Harvard Club by noting how few Latinos were at that event — with the exception of those serving the meals and drinks. He referred to those attending as the “Other New York.”

In many ways, his remarks were as condescending to those workers as the ones in Mr. Badillo’s book “One America, One Standard,” in which he declares that success for Hispanics should be defined by academic achievements. I think both men are stuck on stereotyping those in the service community.

Many of the events I cover for my column are held in deluxe hotel ballrooms and private clubs. I, too, have always noted that these functions were staffed almost exclusively by blacks and Hispanics, but my reaction has always been, “America, what a country!” because I know that they are being very well paid for their services.

Here in New York City, service jobs are a career choice, not — as in other cities, where college students and single parents fill these positions — merely a stepping stone to a better job. My husband works in a major Midtown hotel where banquet waiters and waitresses can command six-figure salaries and where the bell staff includes landlords who drive BMWs and Lexuses.

They are workers who come from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. They have bought homes in their native countries but have no intention to return there until they retire. They are living the American dream, for these positions do not require academic degrees or technical skills and yet the monetary rewards are greater than anything that’s available in their homelands.

Union hotel and restaurant workers also have great health coverage, with full-service health clinics providing all their laboratory and radiological testing onsite. Insurance is with Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which is accepted at nearly all medical facilities.

When I worked in the city on a late shift years ago, I always chatted with the cleaning staff because I was curious about their lives and what brought them to America. At the time, illegal immigration was not a hot issue, so I never asked about their status. Their stories all bore the same theme: They came for a better life for their families; they shared living quarters with siblings and other family; their children were in college; they worked hard, ergo they succeeded. They may hold menial jobs, but they’re certainly not poor.

One can always tell how well the economy is doing by the way corporations spend, and they are spending big time now. The city is booming. Conference rooms, banquet halls, and hotels are fully booked. Trickle-down economics work because when the rich spend, everyone benefits.

In addition to the legitimate service industry, the city also thrives on an underground economy in which working off-the-books is common. Who’s afraid of the taxman when you’re below his radar? Thanks to the Internet, more and more individuals have become entrepreneurs by setting up home-based businesses. Many of those mass layoffs of corporate executives with years of experience in the 1990s could have resulted in a depression. Instead, a good number of these individuals used their marketing skills and business acumen to start their own Internet enterprises. Leave it to the Democrats to figure out a way to stifle growth through taxation.

The three leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination are promising that they will repeal or let the tax cuts for wealthier voters expire. One even proposed additional tax hikes on capital gains, hedge funds, and corporations to help pay for new tax breaks for lower-income families. Talk about clueless. But what do you expect from candidates who actually answer debate questions from a YouTube snowman?