This was a carousel of a read. The title reads almost paradoxical. The last two paragraphs almost assured me that this was going to end on a note that I'd find to be in conformity to my impression of the city.
Then this:
> It used to bother me. The delivery guy and I both expend the same raw 'effort' in a day, and that's probably being generous to me. The difference is that society has decided that my 'effort' is more lucrative. Then I realized that me being bothered by it is not helping anyone. I've started to take these opportunities to feel grateful to Lady Luck for giving me good parents, raising me in a good part of the world, and introducing me to a trade at an early age which pays good money. Now I try to pay this gratitude forward in the form of tips and other acts of kindness while reminding myself that nature is inherently random.
No, no no! “Lady Luck” is a pin-up girl. Be bothered. You can tip the delivery guy and still be bothered. Not by the fact that your job earns you more money than his (which I find not to be suited according to indeterminate circumstance—but that’s another discussion), but be bothered because...perhaps your contentment is subsidized by another's frustration...and there are fewer places than ever to escape this if you want to earn a living that you believe is suited to your skillset, with all the amenities that it affords.
There may not be any escape from this except to...paradoxically?...earn and spend your wealth in such a way that divests you of your pleasure and privilege and invites or evokes parity with the delivery man in such a way that bridges the economic gap between you and him through a new more intimate struggle!
Then this:
> It used to bother me. The delivery guy and I both expend the same raw 'effort' in a day, and that's probably being generous to me. The difference is that society has decided that my 'effort' is more lucrative. Then I realized that me being bothered by it is not helping anyone. I've started to take these opportunities to feel grateful to Lady Luck for giving me good parents, raising me in a good part of the world, and introducing me to a trade at an early age which pays good money. Now I try to pay this gratitude forward in the form of tips and other acts of kindness while reminding myself that nature is inherently random.
No, no no! “Lady Luck” is a pin-up girl. Be bothered. You can tip the delivery guy and still be bothered. Not by the fact that your job earns you more money than his (which I find not to be suited according to indeterminate circumstance—but that’s another discussion), but be bothered because...perhaps your contentment is subsidized by another's frustration...and there are fewer places than ever to escape this if you want to earn a living that you believe is suited to your skillset, with all the amenities that it affords.
There may not be any escape from this except to...paradoxically?...earn and spend your wealth in such a way that divests you of your pleasure and privilege and invites or evokes parity with the delivery man in such a way that bridges the economic gap between you and him through a new more intimate struggle!