Is It Worth Your Time?

As the famous American, Benjamin Franklin, once observed, there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes.

The latter for most of us may be more appealing than the former, even though it can be more frustrating.  (Afterall, once you're gone, your frustration level drops to nothing, right?)

In regards to taxes, let's think for a minute of what they really are.  Taxes are your hard-earned money; but looking at it another way, taxes are a taking of your limited time here on earth.

Time spent in labour is necessary, and those of us who work a full-time job do so so that we can provide for ourselves and our families. Nothing new there.  Most people have no real resentment performing even unpleasant tasks at our jobs if it benefits the family.  But can the same be said if it benefits the government and their spurious priorities?

I am not an anarchist, but I do believe government has a sacred trust to be careful how it spends our money.  It is my belief that I can do more for myself than others can do for me except in specialized circumstances such as medical care, security, fire, and other areas where government control has shown their expertise.  And I know that this costs money.

In this case, I don't mind giving up some of my limited time on earth, exchanging it into money, and giving it to the government.

And that is my point: how much of your time in a labour environment are you willing to give up?  Money that could actually go into your household?

From 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. you leave your family, drive in heavy traffic, arrive to fulfill your quota or what constitutes "work" and then leave.  Next payday, the government takes your time in the form of taxes for about a third of your day.  (So from 8:00 to 10:45 a.m. you worked for "free.")  Then there's more "taking" when you fill up your car, make purchases, or give to the next level of government.  How does that feel, especially when you can't afford a home, a car, or even a once-in-a-lifetime trip?

We all have to work for the government but it can be depressing to think that one-third (or more) of your life's time is being given to the faceless levels of government.  In order for this to make sense, our taxes have to be seen as having some worth.  Do they?  Or could you do a better job with the time-to-money activity you engage in everyday?

When you spend your life working, who should get the benefit of your time?

The Case for Professionalism

Those who know me well, know that I have been a professional musician for about 35 years.  It hasn't always been smooth sailing, and there were, and still are, more than a good number of bumps that are encountered in the midst of exercising my career.

Nevertheless, one learns and carries on.  And those bumps add up to something that is called "experience."  And presumably, the more experience one attains, the more adept they become at their vocation; this above and beyond the initial pieces of paper one receives after graduating from higher places of learning.

So the combination of these two things creates what may be defined as a professional environment.  Doctors and lawyers have them and so do some musicians, including those who opt to open a studio or music school.

A lot of work has been accomplished behind the scenes.  At times, we may make it look easy, but we didn't get there by accident.  And the lack of acknowledgement to this fact by the lay person can be frustrating.

For example, a parent may want to sign up their child for piano lessons, but they want a "deal."  "Your rate is too high," I might hear or, "This other teacher down the street charges less than you do."  Sigh.  There are reasons some teachers are less expensive, the main one being lack of the aforementioned training and experience.  Another reason is that some folks shouldn't be teaching and do so anyway, muddying the waters for those who are specifically trained to specialize.  (I heard about an extreme case once, where a grade six piano student was hired by a commercial music studio to teach a grade seven piano student.  But at least the rate was cheap!)

During an initial conversation with some parents, I can try to insert my credentials into the conversation stream, but the same question of money comes up again and again.

And the result?  In two out of three conversations, if I don't pony up said lesson rate before said conversation ends, I will not hear from them again, even though I offer to discuss that very thing with them during a complimentary meet and greet.

Isn't experience, education, and success at least as important to discuss as how much I charge?