Replies

My Grandfather told me that everybody I met would tell me that they are overworked and underpaid.

He was right.

So, what do you do if you feel you are underpaid?

You give yourself some extra benefits. You take stuff from where you work. You make customers pay you extra.

I was stationed at Fort Knox, KY in the 1980s. I lived in Government Quarters. That’s government housing. It came time for me to move. Before I could officially leave Fort Knox, I had to “clear quarters”. This meant that a GS employee from the housing office had to inspect where I lived to make sure I left everything there that was supposed to be there and that it was clean.

We didn’t have any kids, and my wife was a good housekeeper. I felt sure we would have no troubles passing the inspection. My peers to me to hire one of the local cleaning services. They told me horror stories of wives being left behind to prepare for the fifth or sixth inspection. You were not going to pass inspection unless you hired a cleaning crew because the cleaning crews had to bribe the government inspectors.

This was in the 1980s.

We hired a cleaning crew. It was two Korean wives of Soldiers. Unfortunately, we were there first customers.

All cleaning crews had a “pass inspection” guarantee.

Those two ladies had that place spit-shined.

It didn’t pass.

They spent another day cleaning.

Everything sparkled.

It didn’t pass.

They spent another day cleaning.

It didn’t pass.

I had to move on to my next assignment. I was out of time.

I pulled the two ladies aside. I told them that the next time the inspector came, they should meet him out side with a $20 bill folded up in their right hand. They should shake the inspector’s hand and pass him the money.

They did it.

We passed.

This was in America in the 1980s. Our government employees had to be bribed.

Everybody thinks they are underpaid. Even when they are at their condo in Hawaii.