to be fed up of hearing 'I've worked hard for my money'

[newbluesofa]

Lots of chat on MN recently about taxes on high earners. So heard lots of 'we have this money because we work bloody hard for it' and honestly I'm sick of it and think the people who say it are selfish.

Nurses work incredibly hard, long shifts, difficult job. Carers provide absolutely essential service, again shift work, difficult hours, difficult job. Teachers provide essential work, I know multiple teachers and they all devote evenings, weekends, school holidays to the detriment of their own families. All of these jobs also have huge emotional tolls. So 'I've worked hard for my money' means nothing to me, because a lot of people work a lot harder for a lot less.

Anyway, well done OP. You've got lots of people patting you on the back about the horrible 'rich' people, which is what you wanted. It's a shame that your seething resentment and hopeless naivety will ultimately blow up in the faces of the truly vulnerable in this country.

This whole thread reminds me of some of my university classmates. Maybe it’s them.

Highlights included:

“Sleepless, where are you from?”
“Well I grew up in x, and now live in z”
“Oh I don’t know which is worse!!”

And overheard in a lecture about child poverty..

”You mean they’ve never been skiing?!”

Thanks! Have fun bootlicking!

Thanks, you're so lovely 😍. What a shame I don't come up to your standards.

I think anybody that works has a hard working job. And anybody not able to work like disabled people have a hard job.

It’s the people that can work but don’t work that I work harder than. Why can’t I say I work harder than them?

I don't bootlick my high earning husband? I'm proud of him and all he's achieved. Especially considering we both had humble upbringings.

Didn't you say you were gonna stop posting on this thread?

I think this is the 3rd or 4th time you've replied to me when I wasn't speaking to you 😂 I never said you bootlick your husband but you can pretend I did if you want

Never trust an internet socialist that shares absolutely nothing about themselves...
You're wasting your breath here.

I shall reply and defend the people who are attacking. There's nothing wrong with being rich.

You didn't defend anyone you just talked about yourself 😂

My husband worked very hard to get to where he is. We both had absolutely nothing growing up and now he earns a very good wage. He works incredibly hard to provide for the family.

And no we aren't happy to be taxed even more.

That’s not true, she defends her husband loads. And curtseys to his superior earning power, I think.

I work hard at a very basic job, but I will admit to making some poor job choices in the past/ not being confident enough and most likely being not neuro typical.
Having said that my work doesn't define me and I'm happy and independent. I don't begrudge what anyone else has,no one's life is perfect!

You just sound salty.

I don’t deny that nurses work hard, I don’t understand how that has anything to do with me working hard and being taxed a lot as a result? Am I not allowed to have concerns because nurses exist? Sounds like a dictatorship.

I don’t understand why it’s always a race to the bottom on here. The competitive cries of poverty are bizarre.

Yes, it’s fucking irritating that I did all the right things in life yet end up paying more into the system than I have ever used. It’s annoying that if I get a bonus or a pay rise or a promotion or whatever, that I don’t actually see much of that benefit. I remember once I only earned like £3k in a month consisting of my normal salary and a bonus yet that came with £1.5k in deductions. 1/3 of deductions before I have even paid bills, is validly irritating.

I think it’s because there is an implication that high earners are just lucky, privileged or fall into a higher salary bracket by chance. The reality is everyone works hard regardless of their job and we all make sacrifices/compromises we don’t always want to make. I guess I find it harder to hear people moaning about particular roles they worked hard to get into while knowing that the salaries were shit. They weren’t suddenly going to turn into a unicorn salaries and there was a choice to aspire to enter different professions. There is always a choice, and some are more disadvantaged but trying is always an option.

@Lovehascomeandgone I agree.

One of my childhood friends is a nurse, she’s at a senior level now. She does get frustrated that I might earn more than her senior role, or that I can work from home etc as in her mind, her job is harder. No one at school or university misled her into thinking nursing is well-compensated. So she knew from the start that her career path came with a ceiling on salary and employment benefits.

I do think with certain areas like public sector, tolerating shit treatment for the sake of the employer is rife. It’s a bit cultish in that sense, my friend will complain about all the downsides but would never, ever leave for better pastures. Just complaining until retirement.

I do think clinical and support staff should be paid more, they do an amazing job but true in that there is no deception around the pay. There are other benefits attached to the NHS pension such as a more than matched contribution with early retirement options. Plus senior and board level nursing pay can be very good in comparison to average wage but you know when you go into that profession, working from home is not a frequent option due to the nature of the job. Lot of pressure in the NHS though, it’s relentless for many.

Isn’t work relentless for everyone? I work for a corporate, the pressure is immense.

Yes it can be but I was responding to another poster about the public sector. We weren’t discussing corporate so no insult was intended.

Trying isn't an option if you're too ill to work. Just getting through the day can be harder 'work' than any corporate job. When you've been through this you see things differently.

There will have been a reason you could do that though. Sometimes abuse and illness mean a person just can't ever do that no matter how much they try. It's never just down to hard work.

Absolutely.
If you have an illness/disability then it makes no sense to push yourself and make yourself more ill. There is nothing wrong with a low paid job if that is all you can manage. We need people to do them.
It is not always about "not trying hard enough".

Yes I understand if people are chronically ill/disabled. But then does it mean you're privileged to not be disabled?

@ForHazelTiger totally agree. Trying equally hard won't get us to the same place, because we're all starting from different places. I feel really lucky for so much about my life - I have a lovely DH and kids, and we have enough money - but I don't think I had much chance of being a high earner.

I'm not saying many high earners don't work hard or haven't worked hard. All I'm saying is that hard work (and good choices, and big sacrifices) aren't enough for some of us - we can do all of that, and still only earn small salaries.

Yup. Working too hard made me ill! (compounded with child trauma of course - low self esteem the cause of working too hard)