My colleagues are my friends and my boss has never once slighted me on anything.
There is something to be said about the perks of working remotely, but for once it is nice to work in a supportive, engaging environment that is close to my house.
What you say sounds plausible, but it runs counter to my anecdotal experience.
I think there are more 35k a year jobs waiting tables in a beach town than there are 150k a year programming jobs in Santa Monica?
Here (EU) it is much easier to find a non-sucking job as a developer as opposed to being a waiter. The people who are trying to find developers have finally figured out that it pays to be nice, if for no other reason, because people talk. If you screw your workers over, you have trouble getting new hires. And it really doesn't cost you much, if anything, to make good working conditions.
EDIT: sorry, software sales is different... probably the same here. :(
My high year in sales was 110k W2, 70k post tax, and 35k post expenses like food rent and car.
My low year was 45k, aka just plain old base salary, and after taxes and expenses I broke even. I was living in a pretty expensive part of Boston. I'm sure I could have found a really nasty bedroom for like $650 if I wanted to haha.
Right now as a waiter I'm making about $600 a week pre tax. I just came off of a $400 weekend working only 16 hours!
My rent here is $650 in a very very nice new apartment and I'm 15 mins from the beach, forest, and farms.
I absolutely would do it all over again. I thank my girlfriend every day for basically forcing us to move out here to Eastern Long Island NY for her medical job, because I never would have had the courage to make this move myself. And, I thought it would be really hard to find a job in software out here, so I just applied to literally anything and the restaurant I work at now was the first offer I received. I plunged headfirst and got lucky! Other restaurants are less of a family than we are.
Life isn't perfect and you need a few thousand in savings to get this all started without going insolvent, but so far I'm loving my new location and new industry.
If you do go for it, maintain contacts elsewhere just in case! :)
I've waited tables before and I'd rather be a software developer for half the median software developer salary than a waiter for 3x the median waiter salary.
Also he was in software SALES not dev, so not an accurate comparison.
The way I see it, he moved to wherever because his girlfriend forced him to, and then lucked into find a good job that they enjoy.
I don't think he was being condescending. I'm at a point where I would absolutely value fresh air, not having to commute more than 15-30 minutes a day, being able to live in a rural area where I can have privacy and space, and other benefits like that far more than the financial benefits. When I started my career I wanted to move up the ladder as quickly as possible so I can earn as much as possible, but I've realized that I really don't care about the money nearly as much as I thought. I don't make a ton, but I already earn more than I spend and am able to splurge on things frequently. If I had to opportunity to move somewhere like that with my girlfriend I absolutely would
I keep nearly all of my gross because of the standard deduction and the nature of cash tips.
My rent is $650 a month whereas most people in the bay or in Boston are paying $2200 for equivalent quality.
I dont spend 2 hours stuck in traffic or a hot subway every day-- most days I ride my moped which gets 90mpg and uses a hilariously cheap blend of oil and fuel from the hardware store.
And, what is most important to me, and this is subjective, is that I actually feel stable and welcome at this employer. I was laid off from the job where I was making 110k gross and banking 30k.
So, why not take a job where I'm grossing in the 30s and banking 15k?
Instead of the "nature of cash tips", it would be more accurate to state "the nature of people to evade taxes (or do other bad things as defined by society) when chances of being caught are sufficiently low".
Also why I always use credit card and tip with credit card.
And for what it's worth I don't think tipping on the card changes anything. When I waited tables we never got any report or anything from the credit card sales.
My morality, which is what informs my outrage (or lack thereof), does not.
It's not my job as a consumer to ensure this happens. The only reason to tip in the first place is because servers' have a lower minimum wage. As a voter, I would support a politician who would get rid of this reduced minimum wage and make it so people weren't guilted into compensating people. It should always be an employer's job to calculate appropriate prices for products in order meet their payroll.
The person stocking shelves at your local grocery store is in a much worse financial position than just about any waiter, despite the ~$3 minimum wage.
But, as you said, you feel welcomed by your employer and feel the job is stable. If this is what you prioritize, that's your decision.
But is it really worth it if you have to live in an area you don't want to live, spend time commuting that you'd rather work on something else, etc. that could potentially affect one's stress/anxiety and even cause health issues? I'm aware that there are people with jobs making 6+ figures that are also very happy with their jobs, but I also don't think it's fair to frame his situation as a negative simply because he could be making more.
Of course not. I'd encourage a passive job search of remote roles. One should always be looking for their next job. One should always be padding their emergency fund, so they have 6-12 months of reserves. The better your financial position, the more power you have over your own destiny.
The OP worked in sales
The town specifically is Head of the Harbor. We've got a year round retiree crowd that comes out even on Mondays and Wednesdays to hear an 85 year old woman sing Sinatra ahha
I am back in software now making 50% more than the prior software job I quit but I work from home and enjoy the industry. Sometimes a break for a few years is just what the doctor ordered.