If you think you're making too little money
I was watching Clint Eastwood's The Mule last night. I had seen the movie before so I knew what to expect from it: entertainment and ethical lessons. But this time, one scene struck me differently than before - the scene in which agent Bates and Earl are having morning coffee in a diner.
Earl, getting up to leave, hands the cashier a money bill, and tells her to keep it (meaning the change).
Earl was trying to be generous, giving the cashier a dollar or so extra for the service. And, apparently, the cashier was glad to accept.
My immediate thought was that a dollar (or so) is so little money that Earl might just as well keep it himself, or the cashier could just put the money bill in the register as is, without taking the difference to herself. That's what I would do anyway. A dollar is so little money that I might even get a little offended by how Earl thought it was a generous gift.
What shocked me was the realization that there are people to whom a dollar is a generous gift. Their hourly pay is so little that even the tips count. However, the owner of the diner chain probably makes an abundant income, and he wouldn't care about one dollar.
Even though they're in the same field, so to say, the dollar means completely different things to the cashier and the owner.
Which lead me to think that this most likely applies to all fields, not just diners.
If you think you're making too little money, see if you can scale your profession so that you place yourself in the owner position and have cashiers working for you.
If you're a waiter, become a restaurant owner and hire waiters.
If you're a programmer, become a software company owner and hire programmers.
If you sell self-made handicrafts, become the owner of a handicrafts company and hire other people to make the handicrafts.
If you're a lawyer, become the owner of a law firm and hire lawyers.
There's so much money in the world. Millions of dollars change hands in every industry.
It's yours to take. Only you stand in your own way.
RK