Salvation at the 11th Hour

So, I'm not religious, but there are a few tenets of various religions which I think are important and good lessons for life. In Christianity, Jesus had a bunch of parables, you know, to get to certain points. Well, one of those parables is the parable of Salvation at the 11th Hour. Actually, it's usually known as Workers in the Vineyard

Essentially, a man goes out to hire workers for his vineyard. He hires some, realizes he needs more, hires some more, still doesn't have enough etc. Now, he's hired them all at the same price, so he pays these guys he hires at the end of the day the same as the ones he hired at the beginning of the day. Now, naturally, the ones he hired at the beginning of the day are a bit pissed about this. Who wouldn't be, you know, they put in a full day's work and get paid the same as the guy who put in a half day's work.

It's interesting how much this particular parable gets glossed over by the free-market pseudo-christians out there. But that's not my point. The point of the parable, which I think I like, is that if you make an agreement at a certain amount, then you should be satisfied with that agreement. I'm happy, you're happy, we should all be happy, even if you sold/paid more/less than your neighbor did.

Cool. Now, the problem is when people start talking about their pay in the workplace, or worse when the amount of pay for your position is discussed in an article online, you start to compare what you're making with what others are making. And when it comes up short, you get a little miffed. First, because you feel like you've been a bit taken advantage of, and second because you realize that you've been doing the same work and taking the same risks as everyone else on your team, who are getting paid almost twice what you are. Then you get pissed off.

So, I'm trying to maintain my objectivity, remember that I agreed to a certain amount and I have no right to get upset someone else is making more than me. Of course, being paid late the past two months and having bounced checks because of it doesn't help either...