Employment

Last week friends of ours came over for dinner. We talked about our work and our lives. They asked me why I wasn’t spending more time fishing, taking walks in the forest or just resting. We soon had a big discussion about whether it is better to have a high paying job with little spare time or a low-paying job with shorter working hours, and more free time. They prefer a low-paying job with more free time and say that life is ugly if you do not have time for long vacations from work. However, I definitely choose a high-paying job with long hours. I do not much care about the free time nowadays; I really care about money. If I do not earn a lot of money, I cannot pay all my expenses, save money for the future and support my children financially to get a good education and succeed in life.

Nowadays prices are so high that a person cannot afford the full expenses of life without possessing a full-time job. These include several expenses we have to afford every month, especially in a big city. For example, the cost of a house is very high, plus we have to pay other type of service bills like cell phones, cars, Internet, and more.

Most newcomers are like me. They work hard every day and usually have two jobs. We work about 240 hours a month or 60 hours a week, often 7 days a week. I am a truck driver while my wife is an ultrasound technician four days a week and a nursing attendant in a nursing home the other three days in the week. My friends and my family members are all very busy all day long. Some of them are busy working; others are busy studying. They usually have little free time. If I were given shorter hours to work and more free time, I could not meet them anyway.

My friends who came to dinner work only about 20 hours a week and say they prefer their life this way. Less money, less stress and more time to enjoy life. What is the right way? I am happy with my choices now, and wonder how life will change in the future for me and my family. Will I have more time to go fishing, take long walks in the forest or just rest? Maybe, but not for a while.