MetaChat - Question about jobs and spending your time wisely.

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28 March 2008

Question about jobs and spending your time wisely. →[More:]My husband has this uncle that I love. Everybody loves him. He has that special knack of bringing out the best in people. He is super smart and interesting. He's an Ivy League grad and had an upper management position forever in a household name company before he retired. He's in his mid seventies now.

He always did something on the side in his working years. He ran a sporting goods business, a pro-shop, stuff like that. He lived in a not so big house in New Hampshire, had three adult kids and a ton of grandkids that are just as lovely and intelligent as he is. He has plenty of disposable income to travel. He has been all over the world, ten times over. His girlfriend is wonderful. She's seventy and looks and acts like she is 45. They are both very young at heart.

His wife died about five or so years ago from pancreatic cancer. Everybody loved her too. My husband and I were talking about her again the other day and I remembered from a previous discussion that she worked in a donut shop in the mornings for about 20 years when her kids were in school. She was a frugal New Englander. A real saver. She had a beautiful house and a beautiful garden and was one of those type A people that never sat on their ass. They weren't too sparing . They always went on trips and had a nice boat. They enjoyed themselves. She probably saw an opportunity to make some money and still be with the kids and went for it.

So what is my point? I want to work in a donut shop while my kids are in school! Am I romantisizing this? Probably. I love the idea of it. There is a small Dunkin Donuts right up the road. I bet they would hire me. I realize that working in a donut shop won't create the life that Favorite Uncle and Aunt had, but a person can dream.

Would working in a donut shop for minimum wage, and a little bit of tips, buy me as much as it would back in the sixties and seventies? Would it be worth it? Would I eat a ton of donuts, get really fat, and have a small little paycheck after taxes?

For a long while, off and on, I've wanted to work in retail, or be a hostess at a restaurant, or something similar for extra money and to keep me occupied. My friends and family always poo-poo the idea: You won't make any money. It's not worth it. You don't want to be obligated. You won't be able to volunteer or do the school parties. etc.

I would still keep my nursing job, which is very part time. I could work more hours as a nurse, but there is really no such thing as short shifts in nursing. 12 hours shifts are the norm and I don't want to do 12 hours. I want something where I can be home with the kids when they get out of school. I want a job where I don't have to think so much. I know you still have to think at a donut shop, but you know what I mean. Isn't that sad? I don't want to think too much. ;-)

What is your take on this? Are minimum wage jobs worth it for keeping busy and occupied if I don't need the extra money at the moment? Or, should I just get a hobby other than Metachat? I have hobbies, but none seem to pull me in as much as the internets.

post by: LoriFLA at: 13:45 | 18 comments

Minimum wage in Florida.

posted by LoriFLA 28 March | 13:46

My Mom has worked at Bath and Body Works at the mall for over 10 years now, and she loves it. I don't think my parents "need" they money. She's not a manager; they've offered her the option, but she doesn't want that. She gets to play Mom to all the young women who work there, and she gets to charm people while showing them lotion. So I say do it.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 28 March | 13:53

Just to be contrary, I think you need the time more than you need the money.

But hey, give it a shot and see how you like it. What's the worst thing that could happen?

posted by box 28 March | 13:56

Wow, your friends and family sound incredibly negative.

1) It's hard to live on minimum wage, if that's your only income. But a part-time nursing job can't pay that much, either, right? And a min. wage job can be an amazing supplement to an already-stable budget.

2) Obligated to whom? The best kind of job, according to my dad the philosopher, is a job you don't need.

3) Bollocks. My mum worked off-and-on while I was in school, yet she was still an incredibly involved mother, especially for after-school activities.

posted by muddgirl 28 March | 13:58

You won't know unless you try it. If you try it and love it- great! If you try it and don't love it- well, nobody can force you stay. I'd say go for it. Otherwise you'll always wonder how it might have been.

posted by BoringPostcards 28 March | 14:13

And a min. wage job can be an amazing supplement to an already-stable budget.

That's a very good point. When I was teaching 4 courses at two different college campuses, the $2000 per class I made was a paltry sum. Now, though, that'd be a nice bonus.

On the other hand, my dad worked himself into an early grave. He made a bunch of money, but he missed just about all of our baseball games, band concerts, and camping trips. I'd far rather have his time than his money.

posted by mrmoonpie 28 March | 14:17

i think a part time morning job is a good idea. It's good for the kids to see you go off to work, and if it takes you away from other things then you can quit, but i like the idea of working at a place where you get good stuff, discounts or freebies, because i always think it's about the extras in a job like that, like good people or a pleasant workplace, swag, etc.
It might turn you off donuts but make you every popular with cops. Still, i think i'd rather work at some place with better freebies, but they probably aren't closer than the donuts.

posted by ethylene 28 March | 14:18

Try it. You can easily quit - these types of jobs have high turnover. The extra money, even for a little while, surely would be a positive thing.

posted by rainbaby 28 March | 14:25

Thanks for the answers, guys!

I just applied to Home Depot and Lowes online. If I can get a job in the garden center that would be awesome! I think I would be good at it. We'll see if they can give me some hours I can live with and in a department I would like. I'll check out Dunkin tomorrow. They don't have an online application, at least not at my local store. Thanks again!

Wow, your friends and family sound incredibly negative.

Really? They're really not. I didn't intend it to come off like that.

posted by LoriFLA 28 March | 15:12

It's good for the kids to see you go off to work

Good point.

posted by muddgirl 28 March | 15:13

Really? They're really not. I didn't intend it to come off like that.

Eeek! Didn't mean to imply that they're chaining you to the kitchen table or anything! Just that I would be really disappointed if I said, "Instead of staying home with the kids while they're in school, I'm thinking about getting a job", and the response was, "It's not worth it."

posted by muddgirl 28 March | 15:15

Yeah, I think I've mentioned to my mother that I would like to work at Pier 1 or Macy's for the discount and my mother said, "ooh, it might be nice at first, but then you'll hate it." So maybe that is a little negative, but I didn't take it that way.

When I told my husband I applied to the hospital and was going back to work, he said one word: Why?
He wasn't trying to tell me what to do, but I think he was a little boggled why I would want to work when I didn't have to, especially on a hellhole floor. I absolutely love my nursing job, it's not on a crazy floor, and I still get to spend loads of times with the kids.

My sister, who appreciates her leisure time tremendously, thinks I'm crazy, but not in a mean, or bring me down kind of way.

So, yeah. I guess that can be perceived as negative. :-)

Please call me Lowes or Home Depot and offer me a job from 8-1 in the garden center on M,T,and W only. That would be fantastic. Is that too much to ask? :-)

Bed, Bath, and Beyond sounds like so much fun. I would love that employee discount!

posted by LoriFLA 28 March | 15:32

I'm glad you went for it. When I worked retail most of my co-workers were retired ladies. They were there for the (moderate) challenge, the discounts, and the chance to chat with customers all day. I definitely recommend it.

posted by halonine 28 March | 15:45

My mom took part-time jobs at other elementary schools while my brother and I were in school ourselves. She's not a teacher, but she was doing random administrative stuff and keeping an eye on kids. For a while she was a quasi-TA for a special needs class at a low-income elementary school. Her biggest problem was that the principals always wanted her to work more or do more stuff than she wanted to do.

More recently she's had retail jobs, like what TPS' mom does. Mostly at Robinson's (now part of Macy's, I believe). The trend has been that she'll like it at first and because she works hard and is competent, the supervisors will try to give her more and more responsibility. Eventually this stresses her out and she decides to quit for a few months. The last thing she tried was bank teller, but she hated it (I warned her, but she wouldn't listen). Right now I think she spends a few shifts a week working (or maybe just volunteering) at a local thrift store that's associated with a woman's philanthropy group she belongs to.

posted by mullacc 28 March | 15:47

Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it goes. Because I know you care deeply about the status of my side job.

posted by LoriFLA 28 March | 18:48

Perhaps you could do visiting nurse work, maybe with an agency, if you don't want hospital shift work. Or maybe part-time in a clinic or doctor's office? It's a shame to waste your qualifications, especially since you say you love nursing (if you hated it, that'd be a different story, of course). I'd go for more hours in nursing in some way, if I were you. Plus, nursing pays TEN TIMES retail. Trust me. But hey, to each her own.

posted by Pips 28 March | 18:59

If you don't really need the extra dough, stick it in a savings account for your kids' college.

Or, following up on pips, work for a housecall nursing service. You could, like, get yourself a motorcycle, dye your hair black, bleach your bangs, sing Janis tunes into the wind...

posted by Ardiril 28 March | 19:40

I have thought about home health. A good friend works for a home health care agency. She is always trying to persuade me into working with her agency. I admit that I am nervous about home health. You have a lot of autonomy, which is good, but kind of scary too. I'm not trying to be a naysayer, but I don't think doctor's offices hire a lot of part-timers.

Yes, nursing does pay more.

My sister said this to me tonight. It made me laugh. I guess you had to be here.

If you want to work with assholes why don't you make a lot more money doing it in nursing. Do you think working at Lowes is watering plants and standing in the sunshine and singing a little song with the bluebirds? Why don't you volunteer in a soup kitchen or go back to school? Take on a new project. Dedicate yourself to being a full-time clean freak.

posted by LoriFLA 28 March | 20:47

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