Quantcast
43.4 F
Chicago
Sponsor Message

I See My Work Not in Hours and Dollars, but in Boxes of Diapers…

Published:

This article is more than 13 years old and may not have been updated since our last site redesign. It may contain outdated information or could be missing images.

When you’re an independent contractor, whether doing entertainment, a skilled trade, consulting, or anything else – every day is a hustle. For The Rock Father™, that aspect of being a parent (and rock n’ roll gangster) can be terrifying. What that means is that I have no set income. Some months I make decent money, while other months I make no money – zip, zilch, zero. Sure, my wife has a ”normal” gig so I can work-from-home and raise our daughter, but I keep going – working into the wee hours every night, and sacrificing 95% of ”me” time in order to keep things rockin’. 

diapersIn the pre-parent days, I could do an acting project like this one and be set for nearly a year (if I wanted to), but even then – those projects were few and far between, while requiring tons of time, travel, gas money, and rejection to land (at some point I’ll write a blog about why I quit acting). While a lot has changed in the past 2½ years, one odd thing is that I stopped seeing ”money” or the amount of ”hours” worked as pieces of my professional life. In their place, I started seeing every project quantified by the amount of diapers I’d be able to purchase.

Yesterday, I hit the local SAMS CLUB for diapers, wipes, paper towels, toilet paper, and paper plates. As usual, it was impossible to leave without spending $100 ($96.43 to be exact), and that was all we bought.

A 90-count box of 2T-3T HUGGIES PULL-UPS is $30. Since I do a lot of “small” jobs now (writing, video editing, etc), in my head I see $200 as 6.66 boxes of diapers (based on current size, brand, and store). In fact, I visualize them stacking up like a little bar graph. Is this weird?

In a few short months, I expect my visualization to shift from diapers to formula, as we do have another “new release” on the way.

Hopefully I won’t start quoting jobs in number of boxes or cans.

Then again, the value of paper currency seems more in jeopardy every day. 

The Debut of the RUN DMC x Igloo Cooler Collection | Shop Now

Recent Stories:

Sponsor Message

The Toy Book:

Sponsor Message

Rock Father Rides:

Sponsor Message
Entertainment Earth
Sponsor Message
Sponsor Message Fandango Gift Cards