Quote:
Originally posted by mrm21711
Not necessarily true. You should not assume the gentleman is living in poverty (which you have made), or that these would deprive his family of shelter/food/ect. ...... Your quote of buying something that would produce zero income is not relevant, if it produces zero income and puts his health in jeopardy, there has to be some compromise made. Let him make that decision, dont criticize everybody else for offering him advice.
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It would appear that I stirred up a mini s$$$house with my Friday post
I have not lost my touch!
I believe that I should, in fact, assume that one is not taking care of his bills when he shells out a bunch of money on umpire gear as a volunteer. Consider the following:
1. 45% of all marriages in the US end in divorce. In over half these divorces, money is indicated as a major contributer to the breakup. (Sex is the other.)
2. Over half (70%) of all marriages have major arguments over money.
3. In 1 and 2 above, the money issues generally fall into two categories. The wife spends too much on shopping and the husband spends too much on hobbies. I mention this because someone referred to hobbies in response to my post.
4. Only half of all workers contribute to a 401k/403b/457/IRA/SEP/other pension plan. Of that 50% who contribute, only half of those contribute enough. That means that 75% of all workers have deficiencies in their retirement plan. The $100 that went to plate shoes should probably be going to retirement.
Given 1-4 above, its a fairly safe assumption that our umpire should not be spending $100 to do volunteer umpiring. Does this mean that he should work without proper gear. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is where at least one of the responses made a false assumption about what I was advocating.
He should not umpire at all unless the league will provide proper gear for free. Failing that, the league pay him adequately so that he can get the gear himself without shortchanging the more important responsibilities in his life.
To the poster who referred to the golf clubs in my garage, you are correct. The golf clubs have stayed in my garage since 1982 when my youngest child was born. At that time, I determined that it was irresponsible to spend 6 hours and $60 (2004 dollars) on a hobby when I could get paid $60+ (2004 dollars) for umpiring baseball.
Having your hobby/exercise/fun produce income prevents a whole lot of friction on the home front. To read more about this one must be a paid subscriber. I have an article coming out next week on this subject with regards to Little League baseball. Click on the "On Deck" button of officiating.com's home page for more details.
How's that for another shameless promotion!
Peter