You want to look at some sobering news? Check out that Social Security statement the government so thoughtfully sends out from time to time. It shows you all the years you have worked and how much you reported to the government for each of those years.
My first job was in 1969. I reported $423 in earnings that year. I was 17, a senior in high school and worked 8 hours a day at the Tick Tock Diner in downtown Minneapolis as a counter waitress. That was the year that school time went into flex mode. I had my own apartment. My friends thought I was a nurse because I wore a uniform to work. I worked the 4-PM-to-midnight shift. Never sat down on the job.
I used to listen to The Who on the juke box. One of my favorite songs was I'm Free. And freedom tastes of reality. That was a joke.
I hated waitress work. With a passion. All that smiling, being nice to mean, grumpy old people who couldn't be bothered to leave a dime on the counter no matter how many times I refilled their coffee cup. It's amazing that I ever went into real estate with that attitude.
Today, I earn more than $423 a day. Hey, I'm a Sacramento short sale agent, what can I say? Most top producers in real estate earn at least that amount. Not as much as a country singer superstar, though. I see in Parade magazine that Carrie Underwood went from earning $15,980 a year in 2004 as a waitress to $20 million today.
Hey, I have a question for you: When did Country Western music lose the "western" part? Probably when it went from being all twangy and hillbilly-like to something normal people can sing without sounding retarded weird. I would say retarded but that word has been banned and is no longer PC. I make fun of Country Western because that was my father's favorite music. See, this is what happens when you grow up with the Beatles. You don't care who you insult.
Or, maybe that attitude just comes with turning 60.
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