GatewayRedbirds.com

Retired TLR is awesome. I agree with everything he said.

On these scales, relative to national big league players he was offered substantially more money and moving him up the list of highest paid players in history.

I'm feeling good. I can see the mound coming.

Is it me or has TLR figured out a way to talk sensible and with complete sentences? He seems to be a lot more "loose" in interviews now and his intelligience is beginning to shine in a different light.

If only he'd admit that's what he was aiming for...either 2 years ago, last offseason, this offseason before signing or now. He wanted everyone to believe one thing.

As for changing jobs thing, I could weigh in, but it doesn't fit your tight parameters. But yeah, I've taken much less before...very recently, in a bad economy, where it's harder for my household to make ends meet.

Mitt's a tool used for scooping white balls out of the dirt. A catcher, if you will.

So even if Google or Microsoft or State Farm or <insert relevant industry leader for your job> was the person offering the job and saying they thought you're work was worth 20% more for them than where you currently are and nothing had to change, you'd decline because you'd assume they were just desperate and now adequately valuing your contributions? If another stable employer offered you 20% more, your first thought isn't "Hey, maybe that's how much I'm worth?"

Two reasons.

The question was about feeling underpaid. You can feel underpaid without needing to move cities for a new job. On these scales, relative to national big league players he was offered substantially more money and moving him up the list of highest paid players in history.

And I guess I assumed part of the reason you brought it up was Cost of Living or location desire. Not everyone likes California and not everyone likes St. Louis. So I was trying to take that subjectivity out of it. Also, as has been noted, Cost of Living adjustments are regressive. While the same house in LA will be substantially more expensive, the slight increase in other living costs likely won't dent his yearly salary like it would for you or I.

But if you can honestly tell me you wouldn't move to a different company next door or different department within your current company or that if someone was offering you 20% more than your current salary you wouldn't feel slightly underpaid then that answers my question. I'm isolating one thing; pay. Not morality, not ethics, location, commute, hours, responsibility, title, benefits, desirability.

Ya don't get me wrong, I was just defending AW's comparison with an average person feeling conflicted about taking more money because they felt underpaid. I wish he'd been honest about it from the go, and I think LA's huge numbers and short deadline led to a bit of a knee jerk agreement that he didn't fully weigh out.

So it goes.

As for the jobs changing - I know that's not a realistic scenario. But those other things besides money that have value, but the question was strictly about pay. There are opportunities I'd take less money for, there are things like health care and retirement packages and even just enjoying the people you work with that have value that doesn't make 1 $50k offer necessarily more 'valuable' than a $45k package. The fringe benefits might push the 'value' of that lesser offer to $52k and you wouldn't feel underpaid because of it.

I'm feeling good. I can see the mound coming.

My company has been really good to me for several years. I like my work, really enjoy the people I work with, and fully believe in the future of the company that I work for. All of those things are important to me.

Cost of living aside, I don't want to move. I like where I am at. An 18% pay increase would not be enough to make me start over with another company, in another part of the country.

I liked my job a lot. I was offered another job 3 blocks away with better parking, better future potential, and a better environment, and an 18% raise. Even though all of the things you just said about where you work applied to my job, the second I saw a better opportunity I jumped at it.