Does your level of income determine your worth?

[The Earth King]

x
Does your income define you?
No. How you manage your income is what defines you more, if we're talking about ways money in general can define someone.

If your income is low, do you have a good reason for it (age, inexperience, location, etc).
I guess mostly inexperience and loyalty.

Do you judge people by how much money they make?
No.

How much do you make, if you don't mind sharing?
Just a little above minimum wage here. I make $10.81 an hour and I work 40 hours per week.

Did someone hand you your job/position/status, or did you earn it?
I guess I earned it? If you mean I prepared myself and went in for an interview and expressed my interests enough that I got the job.

[LiaThistle]

I'm gonna disagree on the first question - yes, it does define you. To an extent. It shapes how you see things, how you see yourself, and how others react to you, all on a very subtle level. Like to buy shoes? You're going to buy more expensive shoes with higher incomes, which alters people's reactions to you, which alters your reactions to them. It also affects the degree to which you can act a certain way. If you enjoy giving to charity, for example, income is going to affect how much you can give. If you make only $15k per year, you obviously don't have the room to give as much as someone who makes $150k per year (assuming you live in the same place; I'm aware of differing costs of living). What you do with your income defines you just as much as what it is.

I don't think my income is low. It isn't as high as I would like it to be, but it isn't low.

Being a college graduate only a few years before the recession took hold, I have been able to see firsthand how good people have been stuck in rotten jobs, and bad people have been needlessly promoted. So, while I do judge people by how much they make, it tends to be that they more they make, the more of a jerk I think they are.
The fact that one of my wife's friends and one of my friends both fit the bill of good people stuck in rotten jobs doesn't hurt any. We hear all the crap they have to go through - and neither of them have a job related to their degree, either.

I earn just under twice my state's average household income (and just over twice the average salary - how's that for funny math?). That puts me in the top 38% of households in my state, apparently. Didn't know that. I do know that I currently earn more than my father did at the height of his career.

I've only had one job in which I was "handed" the position, and that was a cruddy job that only lasted a few weeks. For all jobs, including that one, I've had to interview.

[freelance lover]

Does your income define you? To an extent, yes. I mean, I can't afford to do a lot of things I would like, because I have bills and a very limited disposable income. I have to prioritize. I love running and racing for instance, but I can't afford race registrations right now, so it's had to take a bake seat. The only reason I bought new running shoes last week was because I knew I was going to injure myself in my old ones. Things like that.

If your income is low, do you have a good reason for it (age, inexperience, location, etc). It's pretty low, yeah. My degree is in theatre. I had an internship for the past year that paid basically just enough to live on, and now I'm working freelance. I work part time at BevMo, which is a liquor store chain out here and I do get paid for a lot of my freelance gigs. I'm barely making ends meet, and I'm of course looking for more stable jobs in the meantime as well. I think this is okay though. Pretty much everyone I know it working retail or waiting tables- and this includes the non-arts majors. The only people who aren't are in grad school, and a few got lucky and fell into some good jobs or internships that turned into long term work. But this is part of being a freelance artist. You get a day job and just try to get work. If I'm still not getting anywhere in a couple years, I'll probably either go back to grad school (so I can be more competitive in my field or teach at a university) or just change careers. We'll see.

Do you judge people by how much money they make? No, because I barely make any money as is.

How much do you make, if you don't mind sharing? Right now I make slightly above minimum wage, and hopefully once I get better acquainted with my job I can start pulling in 20-30 hours a week. I just started a couple weeks ago though, so hours have bene far and few between. I've been told hours really spike around the holidays though. Then my stage management gigs bring in about $100-$200 a week, depending on who I'm working for.

Did someone hand you your job/position/status, or did you earn it? I think both. I got an an internship with a really well respected company right out of college because my mentor new the woman who later became my supervisor there. I got the stage management job I have now because the director saw my resume and was like "I want to help you get to know the LA area and welcome you here" and basically took a chance on me even though I'd been living here less than a week. But I still have worked my a** off. I did well in college, worked hard, and I've been super aggressive about sending out resumes. I'm getting ready to start applying for summer stock jobs and some pretty big names as well, which will hopefully pan out and make my resume stand out even more. I've also been trying to see a woman I worked with at my internship who now works at one of the biggest theatres in LA, to see if she can let me know about openings. I've worked hard, but I've had help along the way, which I'm very grateful for.

[zaptar13]

Not as a human, but...you will be living poorly.

[Lady_Luckless]

I don't think that your level of income should determine your worth. It's all about what you do and how you act, whether in the workplace or not. It's not cool that you're facing the kind of descrimination that you're facing, hopefully, you can get everything worked out and have an even better job than your other one.

[Only Gray]

A wild Gray appears...



Uh... yes?

In a literal sense.

You know how famous people are worth a certain amount of money?


I personally don't believe that money = worth.

I believe that you have to make yourself. Dig yourself out and become successful. Prove your worth.

[Blake-alShan]

Your level of income does not define your worth at all. I define myself by how strong my relationships are. You can have someone who is the richest person on the planet, but if they have no real strength in their relationships--once the money's gone they will fall HARD. People like me and the average joe, when we lose what little we have left of our material things we still have friends to keep our spirits up.

[Manther]

Does your income define you?
Idk.

If your income is low, do you have a good reason for it (age, inexperience, location, etc).
I'm not sure if I have a good reason. I'm 23, have a B.S. in psychology, live near the city and have easy access to many places. However, I am in my first job and the economy sucks.

Do you judge people by how much money they make?
If they make over $150K, I may judge. My mind thinks that the more money you make, the more greedy you are, but that's because of CEOs and stuff.

How much do you make, if you don't mind sharing?
I make $8.24 an hour. I'm a part-time cashier and tend to bring home about $750 a month.

Did someone hand you your job/position/status, or did you earn it?
No, I just applied.

[Psykeiri]

Does your income define you?
nope.

If your income is low, do you have a good reason for it (age, inexperience, location, etc).
i have no income! i'm a student.

Do you judge people by how much money they make?
no. i'd sooner judge them on their level of ambition. if you're on EI just because you're lazy, you're taking money from people who actually need it.

How much do you make, if you don't mind sharing?
i don't. although i am somewhat passively looking for a part-time job now because my cat needed an unexpected $1500 surgery, which came out of my student loan. now i don't have enough $$ for the year. ahh, pets.

Did someone hand you your job/position/status, or did you earn it?
i don't have one. i used to work in kitchens. i can say i earned every position i had.

[Ricin]

It doesn't get much lower than my employer... sadly. Let's just say... I work at the kind of place where its not unbelievable to say, "Was that a pregnant drug addict?" (<- I actually said that today... she bought twinkies and grape soda.)

My income doesn't define me as a person, but my customers sure as hell think they're better than me. I walked into the bathroom once and scared a teenage girl. She said, "OH! You scared me! I didn't realize you were real people!" =/ Gee...

If there was anywhere else in my s**t hole little town to work, trust me, I'd be there. The only reason I'm even still HERE is because of my boyfriend (who I met out here). If he were to dump me, Trust me, I'd be on the first flight out to California and on my way to vet school.

[Salmenella]

Does your income define you?
No because I'm a student so it's pretty much a mute point.
If your income is low, do you have a good reason for it (age, inexperience, location, etc).
Laziness to find a new job even though I hate where I work and I keep going on vacations paid for by family so I feel bad trying to find a new job when I have to take time off right away. Also, I need a place that is flexible because school comes first.
Do you judge people by how much money they make?
Only if they are working a job like I am and aren't in school.
How much do you make, if you don't mind sharing?
Oregon minimum wage. So $8.80 an hour and I work 28 hours a week.
Did someone hand you your job/position/status, or did you earn it?
By hand you mean hire because I had previous experience with the company?

[Ricin]

Lubovnik

I find that people whom work minimum wage jobs (no tips) are usually pretty stupid, lazy, or inexperienced (young).

If you're in your late twenties and on and still making minimum wage I'd assume you're a ******** up.

That's not necessarily true. Most of the people I work with used to earn decent wages ($30k+ per year) but were laid off. One of my co-workers even has a nursing degree, yet she is stuck making $7.65/hr because she can't find a job. Most of my co-workers are students and are living off their student loans, but some are graduates and can't find another job. I even work with a couple of 65 year olds who don't make enough on SSI to stay at home and enjoy their retirement.

[POlSON-CANDY]

Our income doesn't define us... but at the same time when it comes to the way others see us, it does. sad

[Bilbo Laggins]

••• Does your income define you? It shouldn't define you, but a lot of people let it. For me, it doesn't.
If your income is low, do you have a good reason for it (age, inexperience, location, etc).
My income isn't something to behold, but I'm also just starting into the company.
So I suppose it's inexperience. Age shouldn't have anything to do with it.
My husband was an assistant manage of a place when he was 21,
so age isn't a big deal.
Do you judge people by how much money they make?
I judge them on how they spend it, now how much they make.
How much do you make, if you don't mind sharing?
I'm just starting a new job and I'm making just over $25000 salary
Did someone hand you your job/position/status, or did you earn it?
I earned it. Did well in college, made good impressions on my previous employers, did well on the interview, etc.
At my previous job, I worked my way up.