Bob ............ take the wink out of your humble submission.
This is one of the most thoughtful and sensible postings to this list in a
long time.
More people should pay attention to this message.
jh
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Whitmire" <bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: [OM] Ritz going under
> On Feb 24, 2009, at 5:00 PM, Chris Crawford wrote:
>
>> Highly intelligent people simply will not take low-wage employment
>> except
>> when they're in school.
>
> Sorry to disagree, but this simply isn't true. And while I am loath
> to characterize myself as "highly intelligent," I still must add that
> I willingly and with malice aforethought took a job paying fewer than
> $10 US an hour five years ago. I work for an agency that provides
> residential support to mentally handicapped people. I get health
> insurance. I work a shift that runs from 7 p.m. Sunday to 9 a.m.
> Tuesday. This gives me a two-day work week and a five-day weekend,
> which I use to further my photography ambitions. (And yes, my
> "regular" pay drops to minimum wage for 14 of those hours, as I am
> asleep. See, I get paid to sleep!)
>
> But that's only part of the story. At risk of being tedious, I submit
> that my last work, as a newspaper editor for a property owned by the
> New York Times Co., was much higher paying and provided me with a
> much higher community profile. But it was dirty work that sucked the
> soul right out of my body. I finally had to leave that life behind,
> which is why I'm living in Maine and working for a pittance. But I'm
> much happier than I've ever been, and my life is much more
> satisfying. The photography sells well in season, buys my equipment,
> and pays for a few other things such as airline tickets to England,
> snow tires for both cars, and vacations with friends in Florida.
>
> My gainful employment, on the other hand, provides benefits and
> enough money to pay a share of the bills. Furthermore, metaphorically
> speaking, it is "the Lord's work," that is, it's work that's not
> about me and my benefit and my material advancement. Believe me, when
> you work with the population I work with, you become humble quickly,
> or you move on. (Yes, I am at heart a very humble person, though I'm
> sure that seldom comes across in my posts. <g>)
>
> Maybe having an autistic son also brought me to this point, as it
> became impossible for my wife and I to both care for him and pursue
> lucrative career paths.
>
> That said, I could make more than I do, but I choose not to. We have
> food, shelter and clothing, and, with my wife's income, enough money
> to pretty much get by. No, I don't have the 52" Plasma, and am not
> likely to get one. My car is a seven-year-old Subaru station wagon,
> and my wife drives a Toyota Yaris. We are not likely to be in any
> more than that any time soon. But that's okay. It's our choice, and I
> believe we're the better for it.
>
> (And I do have that Nikon D3 and a couple of nice pieces of glass,
> which the photography paid for in one year's time.)
>
> My thesis, I suppose, is that highly intelligent people have the
> mental acuity to figure out how to do what they want to do with the
> resources at hand, and it doesn't always mean going after piles of cash.
>
> Humbly submitted <wink>
>
> --Bob Whitmire
> www.bwp33.com
>
>
>
>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|