Taking a Break
I'm unemployed, but not exactly out of a job.
As a teacher, I work on a 10-month contract. (Most of us do.) So I'll be employed again in August, but I won't see a paycheck between now and then. Now, I like the breaks I get in my schedule, but I get annoyed when people refer to my summer as a vacation. The word vacation infers time that one is off work and still gets paid. Even the days off around Christmas, which is a very nice break, are not vacation days for me.
If you work a typical Monday through Friday job, do you consider Saturday and Sunday to be vacation days? Probably not. You don't work but you don't get paid so it's not a vacation. Stretching your budget to cover the weekends is not a great challenge once you get above minimum-wage jobs. Budgeting to cover two months with no income can be very difficult, especially if unexpected expenses arise. But, it's a challenge I accept to do the work I like to do. And, besides, I do like my breaks.
Now, people always ask me, "Can't you get paid through the summer too?" Not exactly. Let me offer this analogy. Suppose you worked for me and I paid you $70 at the end of each day. You work five days a week so you get $350 per week, but you don't get paid on the two days that you don't work. So, I'll make you a deal: I'll pay you $50 each day, seven days a week. I'll pay you the same amount on the two days that you don't work as the five days that you do work. (Of course, I'll keep any interest I earn on the money that I hold for those few days.) Would you take that deal?
The last day I got paid for working was last Wednesday. One might think that means that was the last day I went to school and worked. Nope. But at least I'm not still getting up at 5am and going in at 6am....
As a teacher, I work on a 10-month contract. (Most of us do.) So I'll be employed again in August, but I won't see a paycheck between now and then. Now, I like the breaks I get in my schedule, but I get annoyed when people refer to my summer as a vacation. The word vacation infers time that one is off work and still gets paid. Even the days off around Christmas, which is a very nice break, are not vacation days for me.
If you work a typical Monday through Friday job, do you consider Saturday and Sunday to be vacation days? Probably not. You don't work but you don't get paid so it's not a vacation. Stretching your budget to cover the weekends is not a great challenge once you get above minimum-wage jobs. Budgeting to cover two months with no income can be very difficult, especially if unexpected expenses arise. But, it's a challenge I accept to do the work I like to do. And, besides, I do like my breaks.
Now, people always ask me, "Can't you get paid through the summer too?" Not exactly. Let me offer this analogy. Suppose you worked for me and I paid you $70 at the end of each day. You work five days a week so you get $350 per week, but you don't get paid on the two days that you don't work. So, I'll make you a deal: I'll pay you $50 each day, seven days a week. I'll pay you the same amount on the two days that you don't work as the five days that you do work. (Of course, I'll keep any interest I earn on the money that I hold for those few days.) Would you take that deal?
The last day I got paid for working was last Wednesday. One might think that means that was the last day I went to school and worked. Nope. But at least I'm not still getting up at 5am and going in at 6am....
1 Comments:
TVS--I was shopping around websites and came across your Sensations. You have written eloqently what I have been attempting to explain to people for thirty-five years.
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