Three Things Worth Sharing
In this week’s W.I.T. from John, I refer to a video summarizing research done with capuchin monkeys about inequality in pay. It’s a short three-minute watch, and definitely worth checking out here.
This excerpt from the biographical essay Setting an Example caught my eye:
“My father was a car salesman. For many years, he worked seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. He was let go from his job at age 67. Thereafter, my parents lived solely on Social Security. For many years, my father worked totally on commission, with no paid vacation. But in 1953, when I was 10 years old, we went to Cape Cod for a week. It’s the only family vacation I can recall.”
Think about this for a minute – working seven days a week, and one family vacation. I hope that sounds crazy to everyone reading this, but it made me think: if we feel the need (real or perceived) to always be available for work, are our weekends and vacations much different than that father's…and will our children have any different memories?
A summary of several surveys shows what it takes to be wealthy in various places and also the amount people perceive is needed to be ‘financially comfortable’ and ‘wealthy’. Not surprisingly, it makes a big difference if you live in Mississippi vs. California; more interesting is the difference between the U.K. vs the United States.
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