Tax Day: Part I
Paid my taxes today, and had an interesting moment while I was waiting in line at the post office. I know I make little money. I'm unemployed right now, but I always knew my previous job paid me little money--$21K a year, and no health insurance once I transitioned from TA to Part Time Lecturer. ($21K was actually the high point--as a PTL I got a pay cut, too.) It didn't matter that much to me though--I couldn't afford fancy things and had to watch my spending, but I could pay rent and eat, so long as the rent was cheap, and I didn't eat out at upscale places. When I made the $21K I could also have a decent amount of disposable income for what I wanted--I managed my money ok, and could afford the non-necessities I wanted. So long, of course, as they were relatively thrifty non-necessities. I thought I was all right with it.
But prices have been rising, and salaries haven't, and even before I became unemployed, the money covered less and less, while as goods and services charged more and more. And I found myself in line today behind a woman, a little older than me but not very much--maybe in her mid-30s--but a woman who, in every other aspect, looked like any one of my friends, not that different from me. We were both waiting, both tired, both dreading the prospect of an hour-long line. There was a certain shared frustration that gave way to camaraderie in the post office line, and people helped each other assemble their returns, and find stamps, and shared pens and envelopes, and so on. This woman seemed particularly frazzled with all her papers. "My accountant just got these back to me," she explained as she attempted to extract her forms from a crumpled white envelope, and sort them into two slightly less-crumpled ones. While helping her put her packets together, I saw the top of her tax return: $120,000 taxable income. And at first I just thought "oh, good for her." And then I thought a bit more about how much money that actually was. And then I surprised myself by the fact that I felt angry.
Not at the woman--she was not really relevant. But at the number. I knew I made little money, but it took me standing next to this woman, not much older than me, not looking much different than me, in the same line as me, someone I initially took to be a relative equal--to realize just what that number meant, and how it reflected on my own numbers. This woman made 6 times as much money as me this past year. She didn't just have a better-paying job, she had a job where my full year's income was something she could probably afford to spend on a luxury purchase, had she wanted. What I was trying to live on was just a fraction of her own salary. What would it be like, it made me think, to have even twice the money I do? Three times? I would feel so financially liberated, and be able to afford so much more and worry so much less. And at even three times my salary, it would still be only half of what she made.
And what made me angry was that I did not feel it was right that, whatever job she had, it made so much more money--it was valued at so much more than my past job, and the jobs of my colleagues. I assume she has a nice degree, I assume she's a professional, that she has experience and that her job is demanding. I assume she works pretty long hours. I assume there's good reason for her to be paid well. I assume it's a given she should make at least twice my salary, and in fact three times is fine too. Maybe even four. But I know that Instructors/TAs/Lecturers also have a lot of education, I know that this woman is likely not smarter than me, I know that me and my fellow Instructors/PTLs also spend a lot of time on our jobs. I know that preparing a syllabus, preparing a lecture and lesson plan for every class, coming up with assignments, grading, responding to students' questions, keeping office hours, keeping on top of the material, compiling packets of hard-to-find texts, finding and obtaining relevant video for a more multimedia approach, (not to mention the actual high-pressure time spent leading the class) is also demanding. Teachers don't keep regular hours, but just because the schedule is flexible doesn't mean it is easy, or that our jobs don't take up time and effort. And even as a TA or a PTL... I do not think what we do should be valued at a 1/6th of whatever it is this woman does. The fact that I don't even know what it is she does doesn't matter--I know it's some sort of regular office job, but whatever it is, I still do not think it is worth six times of what TAs/PTLs/Instructors make. And yet she's still an office worker, with a salary that isn't unreasonably high--I know there are people who make far more astronomical sums, and while they may have more responsibility and I would agree they ought to be paid well, they should not be paid as much MORE than lower-class workers as they are.
I am not okay with the economic system of value in this country. I am not okay with the level of salary disparity that is considered acceptable between the various strata of employment. I am not okay with making 1/6th of the salary of someone who does NOT do 6 times my amount of work, and I do not feel that their job is six times as valuable as mine.
I am not saying she should be paid less, mind. But I am not okay with the fact that other jobs pay so damn little, and are paying less by the day.
And I am angry today, and reading things like this makes me even more angry.
From Reddit.com
"I just paid 4.21 for gas. The fast food restaurant I usually go to raised their price close to $7. Average cereal price is getting close to $4. At work there no salary increase, they just tell me I am lucky to have a job. What is going on? I am not happy."
"I fucking hate that "You're lucky to have job line" that wore out about 2 years ago. I also have had no salary increases in the last 3 years and the pricing of things is getting ridiculous. It's really bad when you are at the supermarket and you are wondering if you can afford this or that."
"I'm a regional sales manager making 50,000 with zero benefits. No health care, no bonus, no 401k, no nothing. It pisses me off when I see my friends, family, and other people in general in much worse situations and it's pathetic that I feel extremely lucky where I'm at. Especially considering just a few years ago someone in my position would have made 80-100k with full benefits."
And this: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/10/135272006/paychecks-cant-keep-up-with-rising-prices?ft=1&f=1001#commentBlock
I am not okay with where things are heading.
But prices have been rising, and salaries haven't, and even before I became unemployed, the money covered less and less, while as goods and services charged more and more. And I found myself in line today behind a woman, a little older than me but not very much--maybe in her mid-30s--but a woman who, in every other aspect, looked like any one of my friends, not that different from me. We were both waiting, both tired, both dreading the prospect of an hour-long line. There was a certain shared frustration that gave way to camaraderie in the post office line, and people helped each other assemble their returns, and find stamps, and shared pens and envelopes, and so on. This woman seemed particularly frazzled with all her papers. "My accountant just got these back to me," she explained as she attempted to extract her forms from a crumpled white envelope, and sort them into two slightly less-crumpled ones. While helping her put her packets together, I saw the top of her tax return: $120,000 taxable income. And at first I just thought "oh, good for her." And then I thought a bit more about how much money that actually was. And then I surprised myself by the fact that I felt angry.
Not at the woman--she was not really relevant. But at the number. I knew I made little money, but it took me standing next to this woman, not much older than me, not looking much different than me, in the same line as me, someone I initially took to be a relative equal--to realize just what that number meant, and how it reflected on my own numbers. This woman made 6 times as much money as me this past year. She didn't just have a better-paying job, she had a job where my full year's income was something she could probably afford to spend on a luxury purchase, had she wanted. What I was trying to live on was just a fraction of her own salary. What would it be like, it made me think, to have even twice the money I do? Three times? I would feel so financially liberated, and be able to afford so much more and worry so much less. And at even three times my salary, it would still be only half of what she made.
And what made me angry was that I did not feel it was right that, whatever job she had, it made so much more money--it was valued at so much more than my past job, and the jobs of my colleagues. I assume she has a nice degree, I assume she's a professional, that she has experience and that her job is demanding. I assume she works pretty long hours. I assume there's good reason for her to be paid well. I assume it's a given she should make at least twice my salary, and in fact three times is fine too. Maybe even four. But I know that Instructors/TAs/Lecturers also have a lot of education, I know that this woman is likely not smarter than me, I know that me and my fellow Instructors/PTLs also spend a lot of time on our jobs. I know that preparing a syllabus, preparing a lecture and lesson plan for every class, coming up with assignments, grading, responding to students' questions, keeping office hours, keeping on top of the material, compiling packets of hard-to-find texts, finding and obtaining relevant video for a more multimedia approach, (not to mention the actual high-pressure time spent leading the class) is also demanding. Teachers don't keep regular hours, but just because the schedule is flexible doesn't mean it is easy, or that our jobs don't take up time and effort. And even as a TA or a PTL... I do not think what we do should be valued at a 1/6th of whatever it is this woman does. The fact that I don't even know what it is she does doesn't matter--I know it's some sort of regular office job, but whatever it is, I still do not think it is worth six times of what TAs/PTLs/Instructors make. And yet she's still an office worker, with a salary that isn't unreasonably high--I know there are people who make far more astronomical sums, and while they may have more responsibility and I would agree they ought to be paid well, they should not be paid as much MORE than lower-class workers as they are.
I am not okay with the economic system of value in this country. I am not okay with the level of salary disparity that is considered acceptable between the various strata of employment. I am not okay with making 1/6th of the salary of someone who does NOT do 6 times my amount of work, and I do not feel that their job is six times as valuable as mine.
I am not saying she should be paid less, mind. But I am not okay with the fact that other jobs pay so damn little, and are paying less by the day.
And I am angry today, and reading things like this makes me even more angry.
From Reddit.com
"I just paid 4.21 for gas. The fast food restaurant I usually go to raised their price close to $7. Average cereal price is getting close to $4. At work there no salary increase, they just tell me I am lucky to have a job. What is going on? I am not happy."
"I fucking hate that "You're lucky to have job line" that wore out about 2 years ago. I also have had no salary increases in the last 3 years and the pricing of things is getting ridiculous. It's really bad when you are at the supermarket and you are wondering if you can afford this or that."
"I'm a regional sales manager making 50,000 with zero benefits. No health care, no bonus, no 401k, no nothing. It pisses me off when I see my friends, family, and other people in general in much worse situations and it's pathetic that I feel extremely lucky where I'm at. Especially considering just a few years ago someone in my position would have made 80-100k with full benefits."
And this: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/10/135272006/paychecks-cant-keep-up-with-rising-prices?ft=1&f=1001#commentBlock
I am not okay with where things are heading.