So Much Speculation
Four people besides me know my take-home pay: my husband, my boss, the HR guy with whom I negotiated my salary, and the company president. I make SIGNIFICANTLY less than the national average of someone with my background and experience. (To be fair, Ohio has one of the lowest costs of living in the country, but still, I’d like to make what I’m worth.)
Then I wonder how, when people learn that I am going on “another” vacation, they can comment, even jokingly, “You make too much,” or “You must have a nice job,” annunciating "nice job" and raising their eyebrows like I sell drugs or something.
If you’ve read my blog from the beginning, you might have noticed that my husband and I traveled to Puerto Rico, Georgia—to visit Dad—Oregon, and New Zealand in the past year.
Yes, traveling takes money, sometimes lots of money, but I’ve worked the last 15 years (minus grad school and temporary ‘between jobs’ stints) and have managed to save, manage, and grow that money, plus Mark has a salary too. And we don't have children.
People act like these trips we take are presents, vacations won on a game show. Give us some credit. They are labored-for, planned, and earned. We don't stay in luxury suites when we travel. In fact, we slept in beds only four of 19 nights in New Zealand. We shivered in sleeping bags in tents the rest of the time.
Yesterday I told Mark that I’ll strongly suggest to the next person who speculates my pay, “Perhaps, over the years, I just managed my money well.” He told me simply to tell people I married up. He is so funny.
Then I wonder how, when people learn that I am going on “another” vacation, they can comment, even jokingly, “You make too much,” or “You must have a nice job,” annunciating "nice job" and raising their eyebrows like I sell drugs or something.
If you’ve read my blog from the beginning, you might have noticed that my husband and I traveled to Puerto Rico, Georgia—to visit Dad—Oregon, and New Zealand in the past year.
Yes, traveling takes money, sometimes lots of money, but I’ve worked the last 15 years (minus grad school and temporary ‘between jobs’ stints) and have managed to save, manage, and grow that money, plus Mark has a salary too. And we don't have children.
People act like these trips we take are presents, vacations won on a game show. Give us some credit. They are labored-for, planned, and earned. We don't stay in luxury suites when we travel. In fact, we slept in beds only four of 19 nights in New Zealand. We shivered in sleeping bags in tents the rest of the time.
Yesterday I told Mark that I’ll strongly suggest to the next person who speculates my pay, “Perhaps, over the years, I just managed my money well.” He told me simply to tell people I married up. He is so funny.
posted by Elizabeth Evans Fryer at 7:43 AM
2 Comments:
I hear you girlfriend,times are tuff you make do with want you can do and afford.Be thankful you have your health and friends.Plus enjoy life!
You're right. I am thankful for my good health and friends.
This year we're also cutting way back on travel expenses since simply getting to New Zealand drained our travel budget. We'll travel domestic only this year to stay with friends or relatives.
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