How much? Really?

I read recently where Prince Fielder just got a new team, and a new contract. For those unfamiliar with baseball, Prince is a ball player, and a pretty good one. He hits lots of home runs. The Tigers were excited to get him, and rewarded him with a nine-year contract. Worth $214 million. That’s $2.4 million per year. Which comes out to $65,000 per day, if we pay him for all 366 days in 2012. Or $147,000 per game (if he plays each one) or about $37,000 for each trip to the plate. I'm not sure if that includes health insurance.

I’d like to say I’m shocked, but of course I’m not. Baron Davis, a point guard, was recently cut by the Cleveland Cavaliers. They still owe him two years of his contract and $30 million . But because he was cut he won’t get all that money. No, the Cavs will only have to pay him $28 million over the next two years. Even though he won’t be playing. But don't feel too bad for him. The Knicks just signed him for $2.5 million for this year. Even though he'll be out for the next 8-10 weeks because of a back injury. He should be ready a few weeks before the playoffs. If they make it. Oh, and he still gets the $28 million. In case you were concerned.

Then of course, I was listening to a sports talk station the other day, when I heard the guy talking about the “mid-level players” in the NBA, the ones who don’t get all the headlines, the ones who only make $7 – 10 million dollars a year. I really felt sorry for those guys, only making $7 million a year. And yes, sorry for the sarcasm.

A brand new pastor, right out of seminary, recently found a call. His total package, including pension, housing allowance, car allowance, and health care was almost $60,000, and he would be working about 50 hours a week, with one day off (unless they schedule a meeting, or someone is sick...). They accepted him and issued that call, but there were a number of people in the congregation who questioned why they should have to pay him so much.

A first year teacher at a nearby school system makes about $28,000. And she’s heard more than one complaint about “paying these teachers so much money, when they only work 9 months a year.” Prince Fielder will work 9 months as well, assuming they make it to the World Series. He gets more in one at-bat than the teacher gets for the entire year. 

OK, I know it’s not the same. The teacher gets paid out of our taxes, and the athletes get paid from ticket sales, TV rights, … Still, it kinda makes me wonder.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like capitalism. For the most part. I like the idea of supply and demand, and I don’t fault Prince for getting everything he can. And I don’t fault the Tigers for paying out the nose. (Did I mention that when they’re on the road, he gets his own private suite?) It’s their money, they can do what they want with it.

But still, I have to wonder what the world would be like if we actually paid people based on what they’re worth, in other words, based on how much help they give other people, or society as a whole. Pay them on how much a “difference” they make in this world.

I’m not sure what that pay scale would look like, but it wouldn’t look anything like what we have now. If you ask me, it would go more like this.

1) The highest paid people would be pastors. Think about it. No matter how much anyone does for you on this earth, a pastor’s job is to help you in lots of ways, one of which is to help you have the faith that can make for a good eternity BEYOND this earth. Nothing is more important than that.

2) Next highest paid on the list are first grade teachers. Look, I teach chemistry and physics. If I’m horrible and my students don’t learn it, they’ll miss some things in life, but they’ll get by just fine. But if a kid doesn’t learn to read, then he’s in huge trouble. So yeah, first grade teachers come next.

3) After that, I’m not sure. Maybe soldiers, or policemen, or firefighters. Possibly doctors and nurses. I’m not really sure.

4) A million other jobs would come next.

5) At the bottom would probably be professional athletes. Really, it may be fun to watch LeBron do a power slam, but it doesn’t really affect my life. And if it really does affect your life, then honestly I wonder a little bit about you.

No, it would never work. Which is really too bad. But the saddest part about all of this, is that after reading the first paragraph above, almost none of us, including me, were shocked or surprised.

And that’s the worst part.

This is the Place!

So, today winter finally came. Oh I know, it’s officially been winter for about three weeks. But for those of us in NW Ohio, it’s kinda felt like we were magically moved to North Carolina or something. Days in the 50’s have not been uncommon, while temperatures in the teens have been scarce, if they’ve come at all. It’s been perfect winter running weather, if only I had the energy to really get out there and put some miles in. Call it global warming, call it luck of the draw, call it whatever you want, it hasn’t been normal.

Until today. Today was the day that ice covered my driveway. Today was the day my cat sat at the closed door and cried, then howled in horror at the open door (repeated many times!)  Today was the day when I actually put a vest on over my sweatshirt. And today was finally the day I was so grateful that I had the car starter installed in my truck last December.

But also, today was the day when I wondered, as I do at least once each year, what in the world are we doing living in this climate anyway. No, really. I honestly can’t figure it out. Yes, I know we have houses, and central heat, and heaters in our cars, and lots of warm clothes. And yes, we get by. But what about years and years and years ago, when people first settled in this area?

Now, no matter whether you believe human life began as evolved ape-creatures in Africa, as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or as spores dropped from alien spacecraft, no matter what, it didn’t start in weather like this. No, Africa never had this climate, and I don’t remember snow being mentioned in Genesis (although I suppose maybe I just missed it), and well, I just figure the aliens would have chosen a better seeding ground than here. No matter what you think about the beginning of human life, it most certainly have started somewhere just a tad more balmy than here.

Which (finally) gets to my point. What are we doing here? No, really. Imagine you’re a human life form many many years ago. Living as nice a life as you can muster many miles south of here. I suppose I can see how maybe you’d get the urge to wander, to migrate, to move elsewhere. Maybe you were searching for better food, or finding a new place to plant something. Or just getting away from an annoying neighbor. Yes, I can see why you’d want to move.

But to here? Really? Does this make any sense? If you’re  that warm-weather prehistoric man, living the good life in southern California (or its prehistoric equivalent) as you wandered north, and the weather got cold, why in the world would you have stayed? OK, maybe you took the road trip in the summer. But you know, prehistorics didn’t really have fast transportation. It would have taken you many months to get anywhere. So it would have been winter before you got too far. Why didn’t you just turn around and go back home? Seriously. It would have made a whole lot more sense than killing a bear, skinning it, letting it dry out, and somehow making a coat out of its fur. Don’t you agree? Somehow, I just can’t imagine some human many years ago wandering up to this part of the world, arriving here on a day like today, and saying “Yep, this is the place for me. All I have to do is kill a bunch of animals for clothing, spend a month or two fashioning a shelter of some kind, break through some ice to get some water, wait a few months till I see anything green again, and invent something called fire and I’ll be fine and dandy. Hey Marge, let’s call this home!”

Honestly, every winter, there is one day. And this year it was today. As I was walking into work, wind blowing in my face, snow flying, and my cheeks so cold they hurt, that I wonder. Really? Really? We humans settled here?

What were we thinking?