My Annual Disparity in Wages

4/23/2018

Lucky for me, that the Parade Magazine once a year shows the salaries of the uppermost uber rich, and then us regular folk.  It almost, and actually is, sad that some people have so much money, for what appears to me to be so little.

Chris Rock has an estimated income of $57 Million dollars. You know, as well as I do, that entertainers like him, HAVE people who do pretty much everything for him.  Do really rich people worry, or perhaps give a thought to who's going to mow their lawns?  Um, seems doubtable.

Then there's a firefighter who only earns $18,000.  A firefighter's work is dangerous, and you would think they would earn what I would consider a "working" wage.  I don't know many people who can live on $18,000.

A part-time federal prison transportation officer get $20,000. I know the prisons are detained in the back, but still, they are prisoners.

A pro hockey player has an estimated income of $16 Million.  While I know hockey is a dangerous sport, but he's literally being paid to skate.  (Please don't send me hate mail, because I do know that the sport is not just about being able to skate).

For heaven's sake, Albert Einstein estimated estate income is $10 Million, and he's dead!

Some of us remember, and not fondly, of how little we were paid when we were starting our careers.  I remember how happy Jeff and I were, when his take home pay had a comma in it!  Happy Days.

If you are ever wondering how far you've come, just look at your Social Security Statement, which shows your salaries from the beginning to the present.  When you aren't making a lot of money, you have to get creative about spending.  Do you turn the a/c on, and then get a higher electrical bill, OR can you just put a few fans in strategic places.  Once, it was ONE ice cream cone among three people (Jeff and I and our oldest son).   If, you've come up in the ranks, you do appreciate, everything that you have EARNED over the span of your career.  And, we are so very proud of Scott and Andrew's successful careers.  My long-time career as a legal secretary ended in 2013.  Jeff, is still working.  Working makes him happy (actually that's probably not an accurate word, but it'll do), and allows us to afford certain things - like one click shopping on Amazon😀😀

When I watch a show, like Judge Judy, and somebody is standing in front of her, and she asks what they make on either (a) disability and/or (b) social security.  The received income is generally very low, and I feel sorry for them.  It helped, when it was time, for me to start collecting Social Security, that I had worked 40 plus years.

Jeff and I are grateful for the life we have had, and the successes we have earned.  I believe that if you work for your money, rather than having it handed to you with a silver spoon, you are more appreciative.

Jeff and I are keeping Benjamin with us until Wednesday.  With him out of the house, Stacey et al, can continue to get their house ready to be put on the market later this week.

When Benjamin is here, he puts on some mind-numbing Netflix movie, and then sets up his racetrack, and plays with cars, and dances and sings.  All of this is fine with MomMom - I can, for the most part, tune him out.  Perhaps, this is a skill that mothers of sons obtain!  Multiple boys in the house means multiple amounts of noise.  Or, is it perhaps, that since I no longer have children in the house, I am more patient now? Could be.

Happy Monday everybody.

P