How Much Is Your Ego Worth?

I was having lunch with a friend of mine at Junction 8's Ajisen Ramen 2 weeks ago. While paying for the bill, I saw an employment poster at the side of the counter which I thought was interesting and worth sharing.

They were looking for 5 positions, namely supervisor, cook, kitchen helper, dishwasher, and part timers. What caught my attention was that salary of a dishwasher is second only to that of a supervisor. I have no intention of belittling the importance of a dishwasher in a restaurant, but I cannot come around to the fact that they earn more than a cook/chef. Not to mention, the salary of $1700 ~ $2000 is comparable to that of a fresh diploma holder. Some may argue that because it is a dirty and tiring job. Shall we compare it to the salary of a maid, toilet cleaner or a construction worker then?

My friend commented "Aiya, this is like a street cleaner job. If you get a salary of $8000 for being a street cleaner, will you pick up the job?"

It then all come clear to me that a portion of the offered salary is to comfort the ego of the applicant. Everyone has ego. Being a dishwasher is not something you want to write home about. It may sound offending, but dishwasher, along with some other jobs, are deemed as the "lower class" jobs that nobody wants to do. So in order to pay for the loss of pride, a dishwasher is better paid than a supposedly more "high class" cook.

This does not just apply to dishwasher. This applies to all jobs. Your salary can be portioned into 3 parts:
1. Reward for your contribution to the company
2. Compensation for your loss of time
3. Compensation for the hit on your ego

1 and 2 are pretty self-explanatory, so I will not touch on those two. I will be touching on 3.

Every often you hear your friends complain about their unhappiness at their workplace. They got scolded by superior, they got disrespected by peers etc. It is a lot about the ego. More often than not it is a case of "I am not born to get scolded by you" rather than "The scoldings are giving me too much pressure". Some people may have difficulties in identifying which case they belong to. A simple to know is to check how you feel right after the scolding. Do you feel angry? Or do you feel guilty, stressed? If it's the former, it is your ego at work.

Sometimes you feel wronged, especially by clients, and you are required to apologise. Will you insist that you are right and try to defend yourself? Or will you just apologise so as to close the case and avoid causing more unhappiness? If it's the former, it is your ego at work.

So it boils down to whether the money outweighs the ego or the ego outweighs the money. How much is your ego worth?

-The god has spoken