money hasn’t been my driving force for quite a few years now. when i was much younger and just beginning to understand the uses and power of money i admit i was a fan. i remember when i started baby sitting in the neighborhood i would have $100 stashed in my top drawer. not a lot of loot nowadays but in the late ’80s that felt like a small fortune to me.
i remember too when i got my first job (my first two actually, as i had two that same summer, working for the city during the day at at blockbuster at night), realizing how little the average hourly wage an 18-year-old could get was. lunch time became an exercise that involved me counting how much i wasn’t earning while chewing on an hour’s worth of pay (a $5 sandwich from a neighboring store).
that summer allowed me to do a lot of the things i wanted to do but i vowed i would never work two jobs again if i could afford not to. i figured my time was more valuable than any hourly wage someone would be willing to pay me.
of course this weekend i went back on that.
i’m making more money than i ever have in my life – i’m still on the lower end of the tax spectrum but i’m doing ok. even so when my friend sent me this part time gig announcement i was intrigued. it seemed like quick – if not easy – money. and so this saturday i woke up at 6:20, fixed breakfast, and boarded BART for the city.
and for roughly 8 hours i sat in a tiny freezing room with a spectacular view and was trained on how to select teachers for The California Charter schools.
ultimately i don’t need the money. i have a budget that i more or less stick to. but this fall i want to go to egypt and i want to travel as i’ve become accustomed to traveling…humble but not. as in most things in life i decide where i want my money and energy to go and in travel i don’t mind sleeping in hostels if that means i can go yachting down the nile or have a personal tour of luxor.
so for about 8 hours a month for the next 5 or 6 months i’ll suspend my aversion to working harder or longer than i need to and i’ll pack the $25 an hour away into my travel fund.