On Feb 24, 2009, at 5:00 PM, Chris Crawford wrote:
> Highly intelligent people simply will not take low-wage employment
> except
> when they're in school.
Sorry to disagree, but this simply isn't true. And while I am loath
to characterize myself as "highly intelligent," I still must add that
I willingly and with malice aforethought took a job paying fewer than
$10 US an hour five years ago. I work for an agency that provides
residential support to mentally handicapped people. I get health
insurance. I work a shift that runs from 7 p.m. Sunday to 9 a.m.
Tuesday. This gives me a two-day work week and a five-day weekend,
which I use to further my photography ambitions. (And yes, my
"regular" pay drops to minimum wage for 14 of those hours, as I am
asleep. See, I get paid to sleep!)
But that's only part of the story. At risk of being tedious, I submit
that my last work, as a newspaper editor for a property owned by the
New York Times Co., was much higher paying and provided me with a
much higher community profile. But it was dirty work that sucked the
soul right out of my body. I finally had to leave that life behind,
which is why I'm living in Maine and working for a pittance. But I'm
much happier than I've ever been, and my life is much more
satisfying. The photography sells well in season, buys my equipment,
and pays for a few other things such as airline tickets to England,
snow tires for both cars, and vacations with friends in Florida.
My gainful employment, on the other hand, provides benefits and
enough money to pay a share of the bills. Furthermore, metaphorically
speaking, it is "the Lord's work," that is, it's work that's not
about me and my benefit and my material advancement. Believe me, when
you work with the population I work with, you become humble quickly,
or you move on. (Yes, I am at heart a very humble person, though I'm
sure that seldom comes across in my posts. <g>)
Maybe having an autistic son also brought me to this point, as it
became impossible for my wife and I to both care for him and pursue
lucrative career paths.
That said, I could make more than I do, but I choose not to. We have
food, shelter and clothing, and, with my wife's income, enough money
to pretty much get by. No, I don't have the 52" Plasma, and am not
likely to get one. My car is a seven-year-old Subaru station wagon,
and my wife drives a Toyota Yaris. We are not likely to be in any
more than that any time soon. But that's okay. It's our choice, and I
believe we're the better for it.
(And I do have that Nikon D3 and a couple of nice pieces of glass,
which the photography paid for in one year's time.)
My thesis, I suppose, is that highly intelligent people have the
mental acuity to figure out how to do what they want to do with the
resources at hand, and it doesn't always mean going after piles of cash.
Humbly submitted <wink>
--Bob Whitmire
www.bwp33.com
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