She did the math

To this day you might find me out working a temporary retail job, doing gigs, working on cars, doing yard work or security or vallet parking or painting or moving or whatever. I didn’t and don’t NEED the money- my bills are paid. I don’t like doing nothing often, and making money beats spending money. It’s fun to do different things and get out and meet people and see different perspectives. I once delivered papers to cover for a friends pregnant wife so she’d have a job when she came back. It paid like $20 or something stupid a night and you were out from like 2am-5am. But I got access to all these cool places and got to roam the city when it was virtually deserted. I got to watch the sunrise from a catwalk between two high rise penthouses overlooking the SF bay- who’s going to stop you when you have building keys to most of the city and the world is asleep? It was a real experience. The job sucked- but if it’s for a little while and optional the good outweighs the bad.

Tl:dr- it’s good to have sympathy and look out for people- but it’s also very arrogant to take a view that automatically looks down on anyone who works in a service position and assume their life must be so bad to bring them to this. I’ve taken lyfts before where after talking I found out the driver makes more than me and this is just something they do because it fits their schedule and they find it fun, or they don’t want their SO to see the finances for a surprise so are making side money etc.

Who the fuck works a second job because they want to? Whose dream is it to deliver pizza (not shitting on you guys: I love pizza and you, the bringers of pizza). It's well known that the pay for teachers in the US is awful. The mental gymnastics performed by people in the US to justify this is astounding.

I don’t necessarily know it’s anyone’s “dream” besides maybe someone hoping to meet the ninja turtles or who thinks porn is like real life.... but for someone who likes or doesn’t mind driving, pizza delivery can be (depending on where you live), somewhat low stress but also engaging. I’ve never done pizza delivery but I’ve done other types of delivery driving and I loved those jobs probably most of any I’ve ever had. A great way to get to know a place or find new places is as a delivery driver. Most jobs also have perks. I had a friend who worked at a pizza parlor and that was his favorite job of all his jobs. He got free underage beer and after hours we could make whatever we wanted from the ingredients in the kitchen. If we ignore pay- lots of jobs are neat and can be fulfilling or enriching.

It’s a dream itself- the idea that someday we could get to a point where people did whatever job suited them and their were capable of, and still live well and not be looked down on by society. That’s a long way off if ever in both economics but also in social evolution. That’s sort of the core premise of star trek or post scarcity economics. Personally I long to be doing something constructive if I sit too long. Pizza needs delivered- someone has to do it. We thumb our nose at jobs like that but we also get upset when we can’t get the benefits they provide or when the service is terrible. I believe in professionalism. Almost Whatever your job is it is important to someone somewhere or it wouldn’t need done. Any job you put your time in is worth doing the best it can be done to your full ability.

And anyone doing their best to their full ability is working their hardest. So why would I elevate an accountant doing a half assed but barely passable job above the worlds best pizza delivery person who works hard every day to do better? But we underpay and look down on the people who provide the services that enable our enjoyments of modern life. We cause people to look down upon themselves and feel like their job- even done well- is small and shameful. I’ve known college and high school kids ashamed to have part time service jobs while in school- what did they think they were going to do part time at that age- associate at Goldman Sachs? CEO of a Fortune 500? Pride should come more from the effort and skill of our job than our idea of its station.

A second job would allow you to reach monetary goals quicker. My job covers everything i could need and some of the things i want. One of these days I want to start my own business though and I've contemplated working a second job to quicken that process up. Even when i reach that goal i would still work my main job while also working for myself.