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I Earn Less Than I Did When I Was 16 — How Did This Happen?
When I was sixteen, I collected rubbish for the local council, earning £72 per week. If you’re reading this in the US, that’s about $100.
Fast forward thirty-one years, and this week — at the age of 47 — I earned less than that.
So what happened?
Well, actually quite a lot. For starters, I’ve never had a career. I’m not sure how one defines the word career. I could probably look it up in the dictionary. But to save me the bother of clicking away from this piece, I’m going to define it in my own words:
“Something one does repeatedly day after day for a certain period of time.”
The time period being years rather than months. Five years would be a good number. Any less is pushing it a bit. I worked as a binman for three summers in a row, but I wouldn’t say I’ve had a career in it. Likewise, I’ve taught English as a foreign language on and off for years, but I wouldn’t say I’ve had a career in teaching. Far from it.
Truth is, I’ve never stuck at a job for more than three years. What I do now— I’m a farmworker — is the longest period I’ve ever been in the same job. Most jobs have been six months to a year. Two years was the longest before this job, and a year and a half before that.
