THE BIG PAYOFF

Is there any working soul who DOESN’T love payday? Okay maybe there might be some monk who moonlights and thinks money is of no value, but as for the rest of the human race who NEEDS money, payday is a big deal.

Of course a paycheck is well kind of predictable if you work by the hour or are on a salary. Now if you work for commission it might vary a lot, but otherwise I think most people have a pretty good idea of how much money they will get. For some of us who are too prone to spend it before we get it payday is more about running to the bank ahead of the checks you wrote the night before and hoping they don’t bounce. Yes even with all my plotting I still have those moments too!

The thing is when you get beyond the predictable there are the payoffs for effort rendered. These kinds of paydays don’t always involve money. They can be about things like satisfaction. So the reward isn’t always quite as tangible in that regard, but the emotion pay off can be great at times.

Now my whole of thought here I guess is that those kinds of pay off can be something we look at with the same feelings as payday. We worked hard, we did what was expected and now we feel we deserve that reward.

However unlike with a regular payday there are times when these payoffs don’t occur like we want. That can happen when we for example are investing our time in expectation of a reward like going to college to get a degree. Now in reality the degree isn’t the big deal it is the doors it may open. So getting the piece of paper isn’t what is in reality the payoff as much as the job we get as a result.

But if we don’t get that job then we feel cheated or robbed of that expected pay off. And I wouldn’t blame anyone for feeling that way if they have really invested their time in a logical and practical task.

If on the other hand they have gotten themselves obsessed with something such a winning the lottery where you may not even get a big payoff, then you have to be willing to compensate in your thinking. But the reality is people don’t. They easily get bitter and frustrated when some hope is squash even when it wasn’t realistic in the beginning.

And if that happens in the person’s life too many times they can easily become this powder keg of rage and will explode at any time over some other issue rather than the one they are really pissed about. As Mayor believe me I have spent plenty of time trying to sort out in a conversation with some angry voter or employee why they are really angry. It can be a tough chore at times, but sooner or later something they say will give me a clue to what pay off they were really expected.

When you find out it was based on some unrealistic expectation then often just listening is enough. There are the exceptions though. And a big clue is if they sit down in the chair opposite yours and you notice a big bulge underneath their coat pocket that is the size of a pistol. About the only thing you can do then is DUCK!