What are you Worth?

I guess how you answer this question depends on how it is interpreted. For an old retired guy, the closest thing I could answer would be an accumulation of my net worth. It is obvious that I no longer am earning my keep, just that I did and they do keep on paying. I am thankful that I have not had to dip into my savings yet and hopefully I will be able to maintain that for a few more years.

For a lot of my life, I worked in jobs that were more work than pay and I treated them as such. As a caddy, I carried damn heavy club bags and ate what I was paid as lunch. If I wanted to go home with any left over money, I went over to the driving range and picked up range balls. back in those days there was no fancy caged car, only a funny looking thing that allowed you to pickup 25 to 50 balls without stooping. I made a lot more money mowing lawns.

I remember a job that paid 6 bits (75 cents) an hour to clean up a horse farm to get ready for a horse show. We cut brush, whitewashed barns and fences and raked up accumulations of horse manure by the cart load. We even took tickets at the gate on the day of the show. Hot hard work and I'll bet we drank a gallon of water an hour.

One tough job was Vietnam. The pay wasn't bad, but the hours were terrible. In the Field Artillery, we worked 24 on and 24 on. There might have been some guys in the rear that had time off but not where I was for the most part.

One thing that stands out the most in my life is the degree of difficulty in the jobs I took. One day I went to my boss to complain that he had over tasked me. He calmly said do the best you can and report back. If it was easy, they would hire someone for a lot less money that they are paying you.

So, whether it is what you are worth from a Net Standpoint, or from a pay standpoint, most of the time we are worth what we are willing to work for. For me, I'm priceless and rich beyond my wildest imagination.

MUD