Minimum Wage

Been There

Been There

Well-known Member
Location
Florida
Last evening, I was coming out my front door when the paperboy showed up. He wanted some information about the military, so we spoke for maybe 15 minutes. I happen to ask him about his paper route. I asked why he wasn’t working at a convenience store making $15 an hour. He told me because he liked his job and the hours, even though he had to make a Sunday delivery.

He could be making $15 or more per hour working at a convenience store, but he won’t give up his paper route he has had since he was 13. The minimum wage here in Virginia is $12 an hour. He could do much better working elsewhere, but he told me it isn’t just the money. It’s the hours and the people, not to mention the tips.

Would you work for less because you liked your job and give up an extra maybe $300 a month, if you were in high school today? I think he made the right decision for himself.
 

These are rhetorical questions.
Does the paper boy drive & has to pay for insurance & car maintenance? Does he live at home & pay rent or does he live there free due to his age? Does he pay county, state & federal taxes on his earnings?

Asking about the military tells me he isn't interested in college so the additional $300.00 a month probably isn't needed to offset expenses. Toss in the boredom of being a clerk in a store vs. outside walking around & I think his choice is great.
 
I believe I would work for less at that age. It's nice to be able to do something you enjoy while getting paid for it. Since he is still in high school, he doesn't need to worry yet about paying bills like he will have to after school. Sometimes going from high school to college isn't for everyone. Some know it before hand while others find out later after they spent a lot of money in some cases. I thinks it's best to figure out things before committing to college, IMO.

As far as working in a convenience store for more money, it wouldn't have been for me. Even back when I was a teen clerks were being robbed, assaulted or murdered for a few bucks in the till. It's even worse today.

You could change it from a convenience store to something else that paid more money & my answer would be the same.
 
Been There said:
Last evening, I was coming out my front door when the paperboy showed up. He wanted some information about the military, so we spoke for maybe 15 minutes. I happen to ask him about his paper route. I asked why he wasn’t working at a convenience store making $15 an hour. He told me because he liked his job and the hours, even though he had to make a Sunday delivery.

He could be making $15 or more per hour working at a convenience store, but he won’t give up his paper route he has had since he was 13. The minimum wage here in Virginia is $12 an hour. He could do much better working elsewhere, but he told me it isn’t just the money. It’s the hours and the people, not to mention the tips.

Would you work for less because you liked your job and give up an extra maybe $300 a month, if you were in high school today? I think he made the right decision for himself.
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Nope. I had a job I liked, however, it didn't pay all the bills, had no retirement, no benefits to help pay the doctor. So, I looked elsewhere and found a job with state benefits and a retirement.
 
The young man comes from a very well to-do family, but they make him work. Dad told him he has to get some type of work and pay his share of the car insurance and his gas. He wants to go into the military and earn money towards his education, so he doesn't have to rely on dad too much. I call that being responsible. His dad is either a lawyer or an FA. He told me once, but I forget.
 
Been There said:
Would you work for less because you liked your job and give up an extra maybe $300 a month, if you were in high school today? I think he made the right decision for himself.
Click to expand...
In high school... oh yes, I absolutely would. Right out of school, I worked in a hot stinky sweaty factory and I was hunched over a sewing machine for 8 to 10 hours a day. I remember the back pain so clearly all this time later. I cried myself to sleep every Sunday night and I would have jumped at a chance to make $300 less a month to do something I loved. Fortunately the place was closed down before I was able to find something I loved.
 
When I was in high school up until I turned 17, I didn't work for money, I volunteered at the hospital. At 17, I got a summer job working for The State Department Of Education for minimum wage.
 
Been There said:
The young man comes from a very well to-do family, but they make him work. Dad told him he has to get some type of work and pay his share of the car insurance and his gas. He wants to go into the military and earn money towards his education, so he doesn't have to rely on dad too much. I call that being responsible. His dad is either a lawyer or an FA. He told me once, but I forget.
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Sounds like the parents understand what parenting should be. The kid is responsible now & more than likely will be an asset to society when he is out on his own.
 
Been There said:
Last evening, I was coming out my front door when the paperboy showed up. He wanted some information about the military, so we spoke for maybe 15 minutes. I happen to ask him about his paper route. I asked why he wasn’t working at a convenience store making $15 an hour. He told me because he liked his job and the hours, even though he had to make a Sunday delivery.

He could be making $15 or more per hour working at a convenience store, but he won’t give up his paper route he has had since he was 13. The minimum wage here in Virginia is $12 an hour. He could do much better working elsewhere, but he told me it isn’t just the money. It’s the hours and the people, not to mention the tips.

Would you work for less because you liked your job and give up an extra maybe $300 a month, if you were in high school today? I think he made the right decision for himself.
Click to expand...
My entire career has been based upon the fact that I love what I do.

I made a few financial moves in my lifetime but always came back to what I do. Drawing on a computer using AutoCAD. It's 100% programmable. So if something is tedious, you just program it to do all the tedious steps, decision making, and calculations you don't want to be bothered with. You get the work done faster and all you had to do was provide a few inputs. It doesn't pay a lot but you don't do much for the money. Mistakes are avoided because computers don't make mistakes.
 
I used to have a paper route- walking from house to house. One customer was a dad, who walked around the house naked, with the family present. The slowest pay customer was my medical doctor. This was 1958 and I made a half cent on every paper I delivered on my route- 104 customers. I doubt much has changed in the newspaper delivery business. so I don't think your paper guy is rolling in cash.
 

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