If you had to choose between...

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Jungle Japes, Mar 1, 2012.

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  1. Jungle Japes

    Jungle Japes Well-Known Member

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    Option number 1: Living in a place you love with people you love while doing something you want to do and making just enough money to get by

    -OR-

    Option number B: Living in a place you hate away from all the people you care about while doing a job you're tired of and making $150,000 a year...

    What would you choose?
     
  2. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    I'd probably tell myself that I should do option B for a couple of years to build up an enormous pile of cash, then I could go and buy a nice house to do option 1 in.

    But in practice, I'd spend the money on things and get stuck in option B forever. So my advice would be to do option 1 while you're young. You can always make money later.
     
  3. Philes

    Philes Well-Known Member

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    I chose option B, but like Smuel eventually plan on reverting to option A in a decade or so.
     
  4. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    Where are the remaining nine options?
     
  5. Jungle Japes

    Jungle Japes Well-Known Member

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    I get out of the Army in nine months. I can then 1) go back to Louisiana and go to college on the G.I. Bill, or B) go back to Baghdad and crew helicopters for DynCorp for $150k a year. As Mr. Lightning so aptly pointed out, there are other options; these are just the two in the forefront at the moment.

    I'm leaning toward option 1, but it's hard to say no to six figures.
     
  6. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    For me, it would all boil down to how long I would have to repress my heterosexuality in the desert. How long's the contract for?
     
  7. Crypton

    Crypton Member

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    I heard that they made a lot of progress in the research of human cloning... Or, why can't you just control that helicopter with your mind? I thought that U.S. Army has those human-machine interfaces, that would let you to remotely control any compatible machine. Oh, wait... it's still year 2012, and you probably can't wait another 50 years.

    Well, then I would go for the first option. If you have a family, friends, and warm home, you have already everything you need for living. Some extra money, are not worth the risk loosing it. I guess...
     
  8. Jojobobo

    Jojobobo Well-Known Member

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    Do you get a pension in the American army? How long do you have to serve to get that, or doesn't it count if you're working for a private military contractor?

    My brothers a British army officer and I think all he'll do is stay for the 12 years (I think) it takes to get a decent pension and some immediate cash, and then do some civil engineering job; though he's fairly recently become a father and got married so maybe his long term plans have changed significantly since I last talked to him about it. I obviously have no idea what the deal is in the American army, but if circumstances are similiar then it might be a consideration. Other then that I guess I'd just echo DE and ask how long's the contract for? If you feel like you could stick it out then it may be worth it; when you're out on service you don't really have anything to spend it on so what you save could be an investment for a happier future and you could think of some long term career plan that all that moolah could help you achieve.

    Saying that, if you really hate it don't do it. Lord knows I wouldn't want to cuddle up to camel spiders at night.
     
  9. TheDavisChanger

    TheDavisChanger Well-Known Member

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    Bag it. Get back to Louisiana and get a jump on the rest of your life.

    A friend of mine graduated from the Air Force last year. She said that during the exiting process that the officers tried to scare her into believing it is difficult to get hired in the civilian world. It isn't.
     
  10. Xyle

    Xyle Member

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    I am use to being poor, option 1. In fact, I "fear" wealth. Actually, I fear the responsiblity of wealth.

    However, if you don't have any sweethearts, doing option B for a couple years isn't so bad of an option. The real questions are what is the emotional cost of the well-paying job and how long you think you will staying away from opportunites to find love.
     
  11. Jungle Japes

    Jungle Japes Well-Known Member

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    Though it pains me to admit it, Xyle has brought up a valid point; I'm 26 and still single. I'm not crazy about the idea of being out of the game for another year. Of course, it would be nice to show up at college sitting on a fat stack of cash.

    I'd have to stay in the Army for 12 MORE years to get any kind of pension. No thanks. The DynCorp job is a year-long contract with option to renew.
     
  12. Grossenschwamm

    Grossenschwamm Well-Known Member

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    Make a fat stack now, settle down later. People are living longer these days - you won't hit middle age until at least your 50's. Of course, women tend to reproduce less efficiently at that age, so try to reconnect with your youthful vigor by finding a woman who wasn't born until you hit 25.
     
  13. Jojobobo

    Jojobobo Well-Known Member

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    Woah then I guess the pension angle really wouldn't be a consideration! Honestly whether you enter college in a year or fairly soon though there will still be plenty of nice single women there either way so I wouldn't let that sway your decision too much. With that kind of money you also wouldn't have to worry as much about, say, getting enough to put a deposit down on a house like most people would when they're looking to settle somewhere.
     
  14. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    I have always chosen option one.

    But it's for you to judge just how many dollars is worth your unhappiness.
     
  15. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    Indeed. The question is - will having more money in the future bring you enough additional happiness to make up for the unhappiness you have to endure while earning the money?
     
  16. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    Some other factors in your case, Japes...

    Will another year increase the likelihood of post traumatic stress which will fuck you up for life? Well, at least make you less comfortable and charming at parties? I don't know how many dead bodies you're likely to see/smell in a year.

    Also, I assume the risk of death is greater than zero. You may wish to account for that in your decision.

    Q'aplah!
     
  17. wayne-scales

    wayne-scales Well-Known Member

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    It might be my youthful brain and its distortion of time; but all these people saying 'just do it for a couple of years' seem to be forgetting that it's a couple of fucking years.
     
  18. Jungle Japes

    Jungle Japes Well-Known Member

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    I appreciate all the input. I've thought it over and weighed the pros and cons, looked at it from different angles and such. When it comes right down to it, the money just isn't worth it. If I had that kind of money right now, I would gladly pay it all for the chance to live modestly in a place I love, be around people I love and do the things I love doing. I'll have that opportunity soon, and I won't subject myself to another year of unhappiness in the Middle East for the sake of money. I've already wasted two years of my youth in this shit-hole, I'm not going to make it three.

    Just three more months and it's back to AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!
     
  19. Grossenschwamm

    Grossenschwamm Well-Known Member

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    Depending on your future education and your education in the army, there's no saying you can't make a decent amount of money after getting back to the states.

    Either way you went, it would've been the "right" choice, but despite my comment earlier, I tend to value loved ones more than money as well.
     
  20. TheDavisChanger

    TheDavisChanger Well-Known Member

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    The answer is yes: the misery will be forgotten and the money will remain.
     
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