Again with the pissing contest...
Okay, I like what I do, to a point and like the money I make doing it. I'm comfortable right now. I don't have to go in to the office every day, nor do I have to dress up when I do. A complete departure from the evil corporation I used to work for.
Anyway, a guy pulls in next to me, a young and fairly well dressed guy, he's got on a suit, I have on jeans and a polo. He jumps out of his Acura. I jump out of my Kia Spectra. I guess that he's probably one of our sales guys, and sure enough he hits the 4 on the elevator, I hit 3, yep, he's one of ours. He's talking to someone on his phone in the elevator talking about taking "the new guy" out on a run this afternoon.
So I'm leaving to get a Chipotle Burrito, as I often do on days that I get to eat out without the fam (the wifey no likey the Chipotle), and who jumps in the elevator with me, but the suit and the noob. He's sounding more like the guy who likes to hear himself talk and is very self-centered, but hey...that's sales. He's talking about dressing for sucess and how you can always tell how much people make by the car they drive or the clothes they wear, etc... I almost break in at this point with a note about that's the difference between sales people/buyers and the rest of us, but I hold my tongue, he's shaping this kid into a powerhouse sales person and I want my bonus to be big because of people like this. So we get to our cars, his being across the row and two up from me, and I hear "hey, buddy". I can't imagine anyone is talking to me, but I look around....yup, they're strolling towards me. Maybe it was the fact that I looked at how I was dressed when he was talking it up, maybe it's because I smirked and had that "wow, what bullshit" look on my face, but yep, here they come. This is really vivid in my mind, because it made me laugh all the way to Chipotle....
Conversation:
Suit: "Hey, if you don't mind me asking you something real quick, how much do you make a year?"
Me: "Me?"
Suit: "Yeah, just wondering you don't have to answer...it's okay"
Noob: Smiles in an awkward way, wondering what the hell he got himself into working at VZW and riding with this guy
Me: "No, it's fine... hey, do you work for Verizon Wireless?"
Suit: "Yeah, I do, I'm BlahBlahBlah Sales Coordinator for somethingorother, blahblahblah" extends hand
Me: "Norb Angell, Senior Engineer, Digit Translations, Midwest Area and you know I can't talk about what I make, but let me ask you. How much do you make and I'll tell you if I make more."
Suit: "Okay, well I was top seller for 7 months last year, so you know, I make more than most, it's XXXXX"
Me: "Well, I hate to tell you, but I'm a C band and I have you beat by better than 30k, but then again, that's with STI and LTI included last year"
Noob: Suddenly wondering if he should have been an engineer instead of in sales, chuckles, then coughs and stops himself, jumps into the Acura
Suit: "Oh, okay, I didn't know we had Area employees in this office, sorry to bother you."
See, I don't actively seek out pissing contests. I know some I'd win, some I'd get blown away, so why worry...your salary does not effect me, nor does your car, your house, your family....nothing. I hate having to hack people off by telling them that I make more, nor do I like someone bragging to me how much more they make. I'm happy with my life, my family, my car...all of it.
Never start a fight if you're afraid of losing...