May, 2013
TALK TURKEY
Let’s talk turkey. This is the kind of expression that was familiar to my mother’s dad who was born in 1890. He had already been in and out of the army before the beginning World War I in 1914. Yet I remember him well since he lived until 1972 when I was twenty-nine.
It is now almost a century after the beginning of World War I. We do not hear much straight talk these days. Instead, we get “vision statements” and “sound bites”, each one designed to sell us somebody’s particular bill of goods. Persuasion and merchandising are now the key elements of what is pawned off as knowledgeable conversation.
Turkey talkers ask: How many hours of work are needed to pay for it?
Occupation_____Hourly Pay_____$1200 Rent___$20,000 Car___$500 Food **
Chief Executive......... $85.02.................14 hrs…….…… 235 hrs...............6 hrs
Sales Managers........ $59.26................ 20 hrs…….…… 337 hrs...............8 hrs
IT Managers.............. $62.08................ 19 hrs…………. 322 hrs...............8 hrs
Physicians................. $88.86 ............... 14 hrs………….. 225 hrs...............6 hrs
Food Prep Worker… $10.52 ….……114 hrs………… 1,901 hrs............ 48 hrs
Janitors…….……….. $11.95……… 100 hrs……..,,,… 1,673 hrs........... 42 hrs
Bookkeepers.............. $17.62................ 68 hrs……...… 1,935 hrs........... 28 hrs
Plumbers.................... $25.46................ 47 hrs………..…. 786 hrs.......... 20 hrs
**Source is the Bureau of Labor Statistics
- May 2012 National Occupational and Wage Estimates.
A year of work is 2,080 hours at a rate of 40 hours per week.
