This was recently shared by my friend Douglas Karr on his Facebook wall. It’s brilliant in it’s simplicity, relevance and its transparency of who Doug really is in his life. Doug was absolutely the first person I really met online when I moved up here to Indianapolis. He approached me to share my story on his website I Choose Indy, and I did. Although time passed from that time until we reconnected again, we’ve been friends ever since and regularly moan and complain to and encourage each other at both a personal and professional level.
You’ll never met a better guy than Doug. Ever since I’ve know him he’s been a single dad that’s kicked butt, sacrificed what had to be and done what needed to be to take care of his two kids.
When I got out of the Navy, there were no jobs. I washed dishes and delivered Pizza Hut for minimum wage (plus $0.50 per delivery and tips). After working 8 hours, I would have to go home and fix my Chevette that I bought for $100… replacing brake lines, starters, anything to keep it on the road. One time – for weeks – I had to drive it using the emergency brake – my arm cramping each time I slid to a stop. Another night, a Dominoe’s driver was robbed and shot dead in the same neighborhood I was in. I never stopped working.
I took every extra shift because my son was just born and we were broke and lived in a very rough neighborhood. In the meantime, I continued applying for jobs everywhere. I eventually landed a part-time job as an Electrician at the shipyards. While I worked there, I kept delivering pizzas – working 60 to 80 hours a week. After that, I landed a full-time job at a Newspaper for a decent wage. I didn’t quit delivering pizzas for another 6 months.
When I hear people bitch about a ‘living wage’, I want to scream. My daughter Katie Ann Karr is fresh out of high school and has had 4 different jobs since graduation… each one better than the last. She now works 2 jobs and doesn’t make minimum wage at either. With no experience she got every job she applied for. She loves the opportunities she’s getting at learning about fashion, beauty products and retail. At the same time, she’s going to school at IUPUI full-time. And, no, she doesn’t make a ‘living wage’… I help out. But she knows that she’s accumulating knowledge and experience that will help her in the future.
If you don’t make enough money, work more. If you don’t make enough money, quit your job and start your own business. If you don’t make enough money, go learn another trade. If you don’t make enough money, cancel your cable, take the bus and sell your car, cancel your smartphone and turn off your A/C. If you don’t make enough money – it’s up to YOU to change it. We live in a free country where you can do whatever you would like, but I’ll be damned if I support a system that just hands it to you. Quit being so jealous and petty about what others have that you think you’re entitled to. You’re not.
It’s the “Pursuit of Happiness”. The definition of pursuit is “the action of following or pursuing someone or something.” It’s not handing it to them. Enough is enough already.
Doesn’t get much more simple than that. Just good stuff right there. May we all hear it and make it so.