Making Cents

I used to get paid 75 cents an hour…that was after a raise. Before that I earned 50 cents an hour. I earned this exorbitant amount in high school babysitting our neighbor’s baby, Matthew.

I remember putting Matthew down for the night…and thinking how easy I had it. Heck, the kid was asleep and I was free to watch TV, drink a TAB…and calculate how much money I was racking up. Let’s see…5 hours of babysitting. 5 times 75 cents…$4.25! I was freaking rich. What the heck was I gonna do with all that money? Save it…isn’t that what you are supposed to do? Put it in the bank and watch it grow. After a few months in the bank…$4.25 becomes $4.27. FREE pennies...YES….I love interest.

I also remember when baby Matthew’s parents bumped me to $1.25 an hour…and thinking they made a mistake. Could it be that I would be making over a dollar an hour? I love capitalism!

Heck I haven’t earned that much money in a long time. A few years ago I was called for jury duty and was paid for 4 days. I was Alternate Juror #1. It was awesome. It got me thinking that maybe I could hire myself out as a juror. Now that’s an idea. Maybe I could be paid extra to tip the scales of justice someone's way. Wait, is that illegal??

Nothing felt better than a paycheck with my name on it. That’s why it was so hard to quit working after I got pregnant with Chelsea. I always believed I would continue working, even after having her. When I was pregnant, I told my employer I would be back, and I actually believed I would. But that was 23 years ago. I think they figured out… I’m not coming back.

I didn’t have anyone in Jacksonville to leave Chelsea with so I didn’t return to work. I just couldn’t leave my little bundle so I had to kiss my paycheck goodbye. But that was a lot easier than kissing Chelsea goodbye.

And instead of a paycheck with my name on it that gave me self-worth…I had a baby with the name of Chelsea…who gave me a NEW self-worth.