16 February 2011

"Takin what they're givin 'cause I'm workin for a living" --Huey Lewis and the News



"I can't believe they pay me as much as they do for the amount of work I do."

"They don't pay me anywhere near enough for the aggravation I have to endure."

These are the two thoughts that are constantly playing out in my brain when I am at work.*

Constantly. With no middle ground.

It's as if someone said to you, "I'm going to pay you $500 for every comment you write on blogs." Would you take the job? Sure! But what if they neglected to mention that while you were typing in those comments there would be a turkey pecking you in the side while a recorded message played of someone shouting, "I'M NOT TOUCHING YOU!!!"10,000 times per hour? Would you keep the job? And if you did, wouldn't you be toggling between "I can't believe they pay me as much as they do for the amount of work I do" and "They don't pay me anywhere near enough for the aggravation I have to endure" constantly?

This has been going on with me for 25 years. It's staggering. Seriously. This past month marked TWENTY. FIVE. YEARS. And I never, at any point, imagined I'd be with my organization for more than 5 years, tops. Because they don't pay me anywhere near enough for the aggravation I have to endure. Yet, I can't believe they pay me as much as they do for the amount of work I do.

Compound question du jour for the worker bees: Can you believe how much they pay you for the work that you do? Or is it no where near enough for the aggravation you have to endure? Or both?

While the turkey was on break (Wonder how much he makes? Probably nowhere near enough for the aggravation he has to endure...), I snuck off to happy hour last week. And it was an epic happy hour!** In addition to a few non-bloggy friends, there were former bloggers: Just JP, A Jersey Kid, and Gilahi, and a number of current bloggy friends were in attendance:

LiLu
Brutalism
Malnurtured Snay
Blond with a bullet...
Always a drunk, never a bride


Eleven of us cozied up around a table at Vapiano's and it was lovely. My thanks to those that made the trek from hither and yon. Great time! You people are tops!




*Well, that, and the eternal Gilligan's Island question. Yup... Who names their child Gilligan?

**The kids still say "epic", right? And "groovy"?

19 comments:

Gilahi said...

I'm commenting on this blog. You owe me $10.

the dogs' mother said...

My they pay me for this moment - tutorint student who crawled under the desk to sleep for the entire session.

WordNerd said...

Yes to both questions. I can't believe how much I get paid to show people how to use the Shift+F3 function in Word to change cases. And I can't believe I have to put up with people who keep on forgetting how to use the Shift+F3 function in Word to change cases . . .

The Bug said...

Ooh I'm all distracted by Shift+3 - I will definitely be using this puppy very soon (if I could get by with using my computer without a mouse I totally would - & in fact, back in 1992 I did just that for about a week - my boss didn't have a mouse for me yet.)...

Anyway, I am WAY overpaid for the amount of work I do. And it's not even annoying. I LOVE my job. But it's 40 miles away from my house. And there's no way to replace this income with something closer. So even in perfection there's a pea under the mattress...

Liebchen said...

I don't exactly feel overpaid, but there are definitely moments when I feel I'm not nearly compensated enough for the aggravation.

And it's only been 3 1/2 years...I can't imagine 25.

Raquel's World said...

Considering that I blog for two hours every morning on the clock. Yes, I cannot believe they pay me for this. But then I get vomited on by some kid and I say They do not pay me enough!

Anonymous said...

Sad I missed it! I didn't realize such exalted company was in attendance!

But it dovetails into the bits about my job, as that's where I happened to be.. they pay me a lot, and they put me through a lot... but relative to everywhere else I've worked, I think I have it pretty good. Smart, hard-working coworkers helps, as does a higher salary (had higher overall compensation in the past, but hard to beat a solid, regular salary!)

Felisa said...

25 years? I hope that, underpaid or overpaid, you like it!

I feel underpaid for basically doing paralegal work but not getting paid like a legit paralegal... but I'm also very grateful for being sort of overpaid for a college student (hey, at least it's a leap above minimum wage!), for being allowed to make my own schedule and for being able to come and go (and even stay to pick up extra hours) as I please depending on when I have tests, club meetings, when I feel like I need to get extra sleep, etc. Yeah I guess I can't complain...

The Maiden Metallurgist said...

I definitely go back and forth.

suicide_blond said...

i dont even finish the one thought before the other one is formed... the vacilating is exhausting and if thre was agod would count as cardio ....
xoxo

ps. thanks for the shout out ..& the pleasure was alllll mine.

Pauline said...

They don't pay me enough. After taxes and union dues, it really feels like peanuts. But better than nothing I suppose! :)

Happy 25th!

Unknown said...

My company paid me just below industry average for the job I did (I'm done there, moving out of state at the end of this month) but expected me to work like two people. On the other hand, benefits were good and I had a nice big private office and worked with a good group of people, so no complaints really. I was willing to stay there for 14 years, so I must have liked it OK.

Cinderellen said...

Ha ha - I commented and went on my merry way before I noticed I was not signed in as myself - but Shana likes her job too and although she is comfortable with her pay she prefers to have at least two jobs.

MA said...

i miss you.

FoggyDew said...

At my old job I definitely felt like I wasn't getting paid enough. Strangely, at the new job, which is considerably less physically demanding, but comes with more stress, I feel the same way. Perhaps I'm just too demanding.

And had man even flown 25 years ago?

lacochran's evil twin said...

Gilahi: 10? You've lowered your prices?

froggy: Were you sleeping when you typed that?

WordNerd: :)

The Bug: At least it's a pea you love.

Liebchen: I couldn't either. Still can't. *shudder*

Raquel's World: *puts hands in scale form* blogging for two hours... kid throwing up on you... Yeah, that's a perfect example.

Justin: We missed you! And, yes, if I didn't get a regular check I would have clocked that turkey long ago.

Felisa: Glad you are content-ish.

The Maiden Metallurgist: I didn't think I could possibly be the only one. Thanks for sharing.

suicide_blond: Ooo, it SHOULD count as cardio!!!

Pauline: Mmmm, peanuts.

Shana/ellen: Good luck to both of you with the new gig. :)

Vittoria: Back atcha, Sweetie. Are you planning the next HH?

Foggy Dew: Sure! It was the 80s, a time of big hair and bigger shoulder pads.

Mike said...

I missed this post somehow. Blogger didn't update your info on my blog. Go figure!

Now to the point. Most of the jobs I did at the phone company I liked. I had a few bad bosses but the job itself was good.

Brutalism said...

So much fun to meet you -- thanks again for organizing the get-together.

Sometimes I think I make too much for what I do. Then I realize the cast of Jersey Shore makes exponentially more and I realize I'm probably pretty fairly compensated...(though not nearly as tan...)

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