On The Minimum Wage

Rifftides reader Steven Marks responded to a recent more or less lighthearted posting with this::

As a former writer for Down Beat and other arts periodicals, this post made me laugh. I know what you mean about the writer’s minimum wage, esp when it comes to arts journalism — I’d say it’s about 2 bits. Which is why I became a medical science writer – don’t ask. It isn’t nearly as much fun, but it does pay the rent. How you guys are able to survive on the pittance the editors are willing (or able) to pay continues to amaze me.

(Reminds me of something funny that Calvin Trillin once said. When asked about The Nation’s Victor Navasky and his closed-wallet policies, Trillin demurred, noting that Navasky always paid him “in the high 2 figures.”) While there certainly is more to life than money, financial recognition for the wisdom, experience, and grace required to move words around a blank page in a compelling manner is no small potatoes either. You gotta love it, I guess. And one can always hope the reader is enlightened, amused, infuriated, or otherwise moved. That too is something. Count me among the entertained and informed.