30

I assume there's no room in your life for proper punctuation, capitalization or spelling?

 

Proper punctuation, capitalization or spelling?

Ah, the text message world is great, isn't it?

 

priorities change. the wife and kids mean more than "doing something i love," because hopefully you love your wife and kids more than yourself and your job.

also, the older i become, the less i care about sports.

just one guy's opinion.

 

Well, 30 or so seems to be the time when most people realize that there's more to life than a fucking job. You work to live, not live to work.

 

my excuse is that i just kept making more and more money doing what i was doing. i wasn't going to stop the roll i was on.

 

Funny, I was just thinking about this the other day.

30 is on the horizon for me, and yeah, I've been wanting more. I love journalism, but it sure hasn't loved me back. Not in a "I can't get a decent job" way, but in a "this industry clearly doesn't value my talent, education and work ethic" way.

I have quite a few cousins my age and I've watched in the last few years as they've had big weddings, had kids, bought nice cars and new houses. My cousin and her husband are going to Italy for their "babymoon." And as is the norm in my family, I'm constantly being compared to them.

What's getting to me now is my younger brother. He graduated from law school last year and stepped right into his first full-time job making three times my salary. I'm proud of him and happy for him, but my tax return last year came with a "you qualify for food stamps" brochure.

I don't need a trip to Italy or an Acura or a McMansion. But I'd like to not be embarrassed at what little I have to show for my hard work and education.

 

Priorities do change, not so much with age for me, but when I first became a parent.

Like Rex says, there's more to life than your job. I try to keep my work and my family life separate. I put in my 40 hours a week and that's it. My time is very valuable to me and if I'm going to spend it at work, they better pay me. Otherwise, I'd rather spend it with my family. If I'm going to work 60 hours a week, then I can do it making a heck of a lot more money than in journalism. That's my tradeoff. I like journalism a lot, but not at the expense of my family.

 

That is priceless, my friend.

I "went red" 10 years ago. Still running from the Sandmen.

 

They were all honkies in that movie! </richard_pryor>

 

I got out a few years before 30 because I could foresee my priorities changing and that I would want out by the time I was 30. I didn't want to one day find myself in my 30s, wanting to get out, and finding it tougher to do so because of my age and because I would've advanced too far or have too many family considerations that would prevent me from starting at a lower level in another field and working my way back up. The irony, of course, is that even entry-level pay in the fields that I moved into were same or better than what a lot of journalists get paid with 3-5 years of experience.

For those who have stayed in the business and have family, I want to know: How do you make it work? How do you make the relationship and the family work despite seeing your spouse and kids for just a couple hours a day and often never on the weekends (especially if you work desk)?

 

BINGO!

I have never taken my wife of 6 years on a real vacation. Before we were married headed to Puerto Rico, but the extent we have done things is weekend trips.

Now, I have a family and a kid, and I want to move out of my condo. Money is important. When you get older dressing like a slob isn't cool anymore. While it is cool to cover sports for a living, in the end, where's the beef?

You want a degree of comfort to live, especially with a family. All your college friends have decent homes, nice cars, and can take yearly vacations to nice places.

Age?

31. Go figure. I think your on to something.