This Blog is SO Interesting! You Just Have to Read It!

Why are you talking about how much money you make?

Sitting on the computer, listening to Shanshu and Ebeth talk about their upcoming high school reunion, I decided to google mine and find out if plans have been made yet. I googled my class and school, and found an alumni site. Under my class year, there was only one person listed. I remembered him, so I followed his Myspace link and read his profile. Marital status, where he lives, what schools he went to, where he works, how much money he makes…how much money he makes? Why is talking about this on his Myspace page? Is he trying to impress people? The funny thing is, you could tell he was totally lying. I mean, last time I checked an associate’s degree does not garner you $100,000 a year; especially not as a Toyota salesman.

Okay, I admit I’ve talked about how much money I make. The thing is, I don’t do it the socially-retarded way, which is to brag about and exaggerate how much you make in order to make others think you’re better than them. I talk about it because everyone knows I’m poor. I’m a social worker, for heaven’s sake! It’s no stretch for someone to realize that I make about $4.25 an hour.

Then I started thinking about how many people I know who have ever said how much they make. I realized that not a single one of my financially successful friends has ever talked about it. I mean, one figures it out when they buy a nice house and a new car every couple of years. They never actually say it, though. The only people who have every mentioned their salaries are people who have claimed to make tons of money but logically you know it’s not true.

So what motivates these people to lie? Is it keeping up with the Joneses? Is it embarrassment? Those seem valid, but why the poor backstory? Why admit you’re a car salesman, and then triple your salary in your lie? If you want people to believe that you make $100,000 a year, then enhance the lie by saying you’re managing a dealership, at least. If they even make that much…I don’t know.

Now that I’ve figured out the way to tell if someone’s lying about their financial success, I will no longer feel badly about the ditzy moron who never went to college who tells me that they make $60,000 working as a manager at The Gap. I will never again look at my student loan balance and think, why didn’t I just go work at The Gap?

posted by Jen @ 7/01/2006 01:48:00 PM