Worth?

Out running the other AM, I ran past a guy loading his SUV outside a very, very nice house on a lake. The whole package must have cost a pretty penny. And, then, the guy must have had a job that paid a whole lot. I thought, "I wonder if this guy thinks he is worth it [his pay]." No doubt the answer is he does. How about his co-workers or others who do the same type of work he does? Does he think, do they think they are worth what they are paid? My guess is they think so. How about the UAW folks who received $6000 merely for ratifying their recent contract(s) with the auto companies? Of course, just for ratifying, they think they deserve the money. Why, then, is it always teachers (and other public employees) who are "overpaid" and get "extravagant perks" such as health insurance and retirement packages? Remember, I still think far too many teachers get far too much money (while others don't get nearly enough). Yet, the $100,000 incentive to retire at the auto companies makes my incentive pale in comparison (and, it was a one-time deal with the school district). OK, I'm not arguing others aren't what they get paid (although maybe I could). What concerns me is the guy with the mansion on the lake, with the car that costs as much as my house and the guy who makes $100,000 working in a factory. Many of them think teachers make too much money. Many of them think the bankers, Big Oil, Wall Street, etc. are "greedy." I guess it's in one's definition of "greed," isn't it?

I also saw where some school board member (I forget if it was local or state) thinks teachers should be compelled to undertake some after-school activities. I don't remember if it was community-based or just within a school or school district. But I bristle as these do-gooders! First, I hope they are volunteering their time in such endeavors. Second, do they expect teachers to do this for free? No doubt they do. So, I would be, for free, giving up time with my own family, my own children to do things for other people's children? Is that it? Yeah, right. Third, who says many teachers don't already do things like this, maybe not with the school district, but with other community organizations?

Maybe I don't know the entire story, but it seems to me we have a strange system of justice here. In Detroit, a judge acknowledged that the mayor's people destroyed evidence against him in the case of a murdered stripper/party girl, then dismissed the lawsuit due to a lack of evidence. What? Is it that simple to beat the rap? Somehow/Someway, there's something rotten in Denmark.