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You're being paid too much. Really.

By Gloria Diaz

Check out Gloria's Blog — Edge of Gloria!

Fort Wayne Reader

2011-01-24

Kevin Hassett wrote something a while ago that appeared in the morning paper. It didn’t go unnoticed by other people, especially pro-labor types. He wrote that the reason things were so bad is that workers were being paid too much. Yes, too much.

A few days after that column appeared, I saw a front-page headline saying one in seven people live in poverty. I gripe that I’m poor, but I’m certainly better off than I was two years ago. Why? Well, I work three jobs. Yeah, my house is a mess, with laundry all over the place, stuff stacked on stuff on top of stuff, but fast food is within my budget and I’ve actually got a bit of money saved. Cutting back on stuff has helped, but having three incomes is the key.

I take home a modest sum, however. My pre-tax earnings are well below the median income for Indiana. People ask me why I work three jobs (and they always ask where I work, or what I do) and I tell them. Do I HAVE to work three jobs? Well, that depends. While I don’t have expenses like a mortgage, rent, car payments or cable, I did get myself into financial trouble that I’m trying to deal with. It will take a few years, but hopefully I’ll get there. Meanwhile, working three jobs enables me to save a bit of money. If I didn’t work three jobs, I’d be able to scrape by, but I wouldn’t be saving anything. So, I’ve made the choice. Instead of relying on credit cards to boost my buying power, I choose to save money so I can spend real cash. If I could find just ONE job that paid as much as the three I’m working, I’d probably quit a couple of them. But I’ve looked for a good job the past 20 years or so, and with the skills I have, haven’t been able to find anything. So I work my ass off, and conserve.

For example, my dryer went on the blink. It wouldn’t heat. So for most of the summer, I hung clothes out on the line and all over the house. I dreaded having to buy a new dryer. I had the money for it, but just didn’t want to spend it. That’s what got me into trouble before. I’d buy something, then something else would go on the blink, I’d fix that, and before I knew it, I was a couple thousand deeper in debt. However, one of my students said he’d take a look at the dryer. It took a few weeks for our schedules to mesh, but a couple months ago, he put in the new part and now my dryer is heating again. I saved the environment by not throwing away a repairable dryer, kept my money local (I gave the student $100, plus $20 for gas money) and felt gleeful that I didn’t take my hard-earned money to the big box appliance store for something that no doubt would last 10 years, instead of the 10+ years this Amana gas dryer has.

I still love spending money, but I know my weaknesses, so I try to treat myself on occasion, but realize money is more important than things. I try not to browse in stores anymore; that’s how I ended up with a coffee table to put my television on. Did I actually NEED it? It wasn’t like it was an emergency, but having a place to put a television (that I got for free) on, plus additional storage space makes me happy. I’m in the process of finishing it. That’s a new experience for me.

But getting back to wages being too high: uh, yeah. If you’re a CEO, yeah, YOUR wages are awfully high. Why is it the poor ALWAYS have to sacrifice? I work a crazy, exhausting schedule at my day job. Some weeks I work seven days in a row before I get one day off. Because I work first AND second shifts at my day job, it means I have to schedule my prep work for my other jobs around it. And by no means do I feel rich. Yeah, I’m not starving, but if I’m lucky, on my vacation I may take a day trip to an Ikea store. No Toronto vacation for me. I worry that the next time I need work on my Metro, I won’t be able to afford the parts because they are scarce.
If they want to drop wages and have us all work for minimum wage, here’s an idea. Have us work for $5.15 an hour, but let’s set prices circa 1957. That way, the wage cuts won’t be so bad.

Of course, it won’t happen. The next step is slave labor, but I won’t get into that. That’s so 1861.