Diversity is a Good Thing
The other day this friend of mine was telling me that just about all of her friends were from work/people that she'd met at work. I said wow, next to none of my friends were from work. I mean honestly, I couldn't imagine only have friends from work! That would be really weird. I mean can you imagine if everyone you hung out with did the same type of job you did or worked on the same type of things? I get sick enough of dealing with work when I'm there much less hanging out with everyone from there as well. Don't get me wrong, I work with some cool folks but that doesn't mean on the weekend I want to party down with all of them either.
Where I work a lot of folks are married or not into what I'm into per se. Some of the people there are kind of pretentious too. Not so much in my group but there are people like that. In the tech industry people make a decent wage so you tend to get folks, those that are not supporting a family with kids I mean, throwing a lot of money around. It's a little nauseating at times. Like oh, look at my new fancy car, or my new fancy apartment, or this condo I plunked 600K plus down. It can be pretty materialistic. I guess I say this because not all my friends are made of money and are about money. I have friends that are students, artists, musicians, unemployed, techies, writers, etc. I think my life is that much richer for having such a diverse group of friends. I get exposed to so much more than I would if I had a limited group of friends.
When I was not hanging out so much and just hanging out with my last boyfriend, who worked where I work, things were much more materialistic. More about having stuff, and buying stuff and getting the best stuff. Now that I'm with everyone again, it's not about stuff so much. Sure I still shop and buy stuff, but not like I used to. Plus I have to be more conscious about money when I'm with friends who can't just throw money at everything. It's not so bad because I find myself being more frugal which is always a plus. I do still have friends that make a lot of money, but those friends can be generous with our friends that don't make a ton. It's nice though, I can buy a friend a gift that they really need because hey, they don't make tons of money so they don't own everything under the sun! There's actually things they may want or need that they just don't run right out and buy. Things that they appreciate.
Honestly I find it a bit disgusting when people just throw money at stuff. You know there are many many people out there that can't do that. They can't say, oh ho hum, I don't like *this* let me toss some money at it so I can feel better. What an empty existence that is! Money doesn't make the world go 'round. It may make you more comfortable but you can't buy friendships with it. Not real ones at least. Plus it's wasteful. I know some folks that just waste money like it's nothing. Even though I may have some money it doesn't mean I'm just going to toss it at anything I want whenever I want. I actually consider costs before I just buy something these days. Sure it's nice to have whatever you want and the best of the best but that doesn't mean you have to waste your money. Frugality is a good thing. Besides who are you showing off to anyways? I mean if you want to attract materialistic folks, then be a materialistic person. If you want to attract real people, be yourself, and they'll love you now matter what you have, how big or small, how good or bad. Trust me, I know! :)
Where I work a lot of folks are married or not into what I'm into per se. Some of the people there are kind of pretentious too. Not so much in my group but there are people like that. In the tech industry people make a decent wage so you tend to get folks, those that are not supporting a family with kids I mean, throwing a lot of money around. It's a little nauseating at times. Like oh, look at my new fancy car, or my new fancy apartment, or this condo I plunked 600K plus down. It can be pretty materialistic. I guess I say this because not all my friends are made of money and are about money. I have friends that are students, artists, musicians, unemployed, techies, writers, etc. I think my life is that much richer for having such a diverse group of friends. I get exposed to so much more than I would if I had a limited group of friends.
When I was not hanging out so much and just hanging out with my last boyfriend, who worked where I work, things were much more materialistic. More about having stuff, and buying stuff and getting the best stuff. Now that I'm with everyone again, it's not about stuff so much. Sure I still shop and buy stuff, but not like I used to. Plus I have to be more conscious about money when I'm with friends who can't just throw money at everything. It's not so bad because I find myself being more frugal which is always a plus. I do still have friends that make a lot of money, but those friends can be generous with our friends that don't make a ton. It's nice though, I can buy a friend a gift that they really need because hey, they don't make tons of money so they don't own everything under the sun! There's actually things they may want or need that they just don't run right out and buy. Things that they appreciate.
Honestly I find it a bit disgusting when people just throw money at stuff. You know there are many many people out there that can't do that. They can't say, oh ho hum, I don't like *this* let me toss some money at it so I can feel better. What an empty existence that is! Money doesn't make the world go 'round. It may make you more comfortable but you can't buy friendships with it. Not real ones at least. Plus it's wasteful. I know some folks that just waste money like it's nothing. Even though I may have some money it doesn't mean I'm just going to toss it at anything I want whenever I want. I actually consider costs before I just buy something these days. Sure it's nice to have whatever you want and the best of the best but that doesn't mean you have to waste your money. Frugality is a good thing. Besides who are you showing off to anyways? I mean if you want to attract materialistic folks, then be a materialistic person. If you want to attract real people, be yourself, and they'll love you now matter what you have, how big or small, how good or bad. Trust me, I know! :)
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I found that money sometimes does not make a person bad. I found also that when you find a job you love to do then the people you work with are closer to your values. I am a manager at a restaurant and a bit of a polyanna but I think that what you do establishes who you are. That is that if you do what you want to be you become what you want to be.
What does this have to do with your blog? If you love what you do then the people at work might be closer to you because they love what they do. I myself love being a restaurant manager simply because I feel that I can make a difference. I don't know how to create world peace or invent the cure for aids but I know that I can talk to one of my servers and help them to be better in their job and in their life.
What does this have to do with your blog? If you love what you do then the people at work might be closer to you because they love what they do. I myself love being a restaurant manager simply because I feel that I can make a difference. I don't know how to create world peace or invent the cure for aids but I know that I can talk to one of my servers and help them to be better in their job and in their life.
Thanks for the comment Stuart. There are definitely pluses to knowing people who do the same type of work as you do. They understand your work angst better and can relate. Also I know the few work friends I have can afford to do more stuff than say the non-work friends that I have, so it goes both ways. I still dig having a diverse group of friends though, you just can't beat it.
I agree that money does not define who we are. There's an old Chinese proverb, "When a tiger dies, he only leaves behind his skin, when a man dies he leaves behind his legacy." or something like that. Too many times nowadays, people identify themselves with what they have, as oppossed to WHAT they do. It's really sad, but that's the message that the media has been sending to us for the past 50 years. So I don't see this phenomenon changing anytime soon. I do respect that live for the day or work hard to try to make a better future for their children. I do respect the people that do the little things everyday to make the world better. Let's highlight these people more as oppossed to the vanity in all of us.
I agree that money is not everything in a person or describe who you are. I have friends that have money and they don't just throw it away. I'm in college and my friends help me a lot trying to get into to college. You have certain people that are willing to throw away money and people that try help other people out. The people that just throw there money away is crazy. I seen a lot of people that i know do and i always say why are you doing that you really don't need this. Think about all the people that needs things or the poor people. but i understan where you were coming from.
