Charlotte Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 In my WASP family, money matters/salaries/etc. are NEVER discussed. They are only indirectly alluded to, and there will usually be whispering done. My mother might lean over and whisper," Your sisters doing pretty well. She just got a promotion." The meaning is clear but not announced in any fashion. I think that this way of thinking goes all the way back to the early Protestant traditions in Europe where, while it was ok to be wealthy, and such wealth was seen as sign of God's favor, you should not display that wealth openly. While this is not the norm any more in America, I think that for many people finances are still held pretty close to the chest. daveSame is true in one's workplace where salaries are highly guarded top secret in a company. I only know how much I get in a annual payraise. Of course in my financial position, I know about everyone else, but I can lose my job if I leak out the information. Unlike in China, colleagues know about each other' compensation or even their family members. Link to comment
Mick Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 In my WASP family, money matters/salaries/etc. are NEVER discussed. They are only indirectly alluded to, and there will usually be whispering done. My mother might lean over and whisper," Your sisters doing pretty well. She just got a promotion." The meaning is clear but not announced in any fashion. I think that this way of thinking goes all the way back to the early Protestant traditions in Europe where, while it was ok to be wealthy, and such wealth was seen as sign of God's favor, you should not display that wealth openly. While this is not the norm any more in America, I think that for many people finances are still held pretty close to the chest. daveSame is true in one's workplace where salaries are highly guarded top secret in a company. I only know how much I get in a annual payraise. Of course in my financial position, I know about everyone else, but I can lose my job if I leak out the information. Unlike in China, colleagues know about each other' compensation or even their family members.You are so right about lack of privacy regarding salary matters over here. At the end of last semester, all teachers, as is customary, received a bonus, supposedly based on performance. One week after giving out the bonuses, a complete list was posted in public of the amounts of the bonuses received by all teachers. Salary is also a matter of public record. It really takes some mental adjustment for most westerners to deal with this. Link to comment
Eric&Yuhui Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Frankly, I don't know why this is made such a big deal of..After all, we all know wthat Bill Gates is making... Link to comment
owenkrout Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 I was rather surprised to find last month that the salaries for the foreign teachers here are kept secret. Last year, it was like you are saying Mick. Everybody knew what everybody else made. Â I normally don't pick up my pay, my wife does. That is the traditional way in this part of China. As a result I was surprised when I went with her last month to find out that we had to go to an empty conference room before the foreign affairs fellow would open the sealed envelope. He then had us count it and sign for it. He told me that it was so that no one would know how much I was getting paid. Link to comment
Eric&Yuhui Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 I normally don't pick up my pay, my wife does.Damn... I didn't know that before I filed I-129F !!! This can be negotiated, right??? Link to comment
Charlotte Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Frankly, I don't know why this is made such a big deal of..After all, we all know wthat Bill Gates is making... yes, if you become some BG type of person, we would know yours too. Link to comment
Eric&Yuhui Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Frankly, I don't know why this is made such a big deal of..After all, we all know wthat Bill Gates is making... yes, if you become some BG type of person, we would know yours too. I'm a few billion short Charlotte, but I can't complain Link to comment
owenkrout Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 It was "negotiated" before we got married. Before we got married we did discuss a number of things and how we were going to handle them. In one of the conversations she informed me that I needed to understand some things. One of them was that we were going to run a "Chinese household" and that meant that I would give my pay to here and she would take care of it. It has worked out well. In reality, she collects my pay (and hence knows exactly how much I really make) and it is deposited into two accounts. The larger amount is put into an account in my name. She keeps a household account in her name which she uses for everyday expenses and she gives me a monthly allowance. The agreement is that we both agree before we pull money out of the larger account. Works well for us. BTW, a "Chinese household" also means that I am treated with great respect and I am the boss in public. When I step through the door into "her" home....well, that is a different matter. I basically do as I am told. There is more to it than that and the arrangment works well for us. Link to comment
Eric&Yuhui Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 This is great Owen.. Thanks for sharing that. Link to comment
Mick Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 I was rather surprised to find last month that the salaries for the foreign teachers here are kept secret. Last year, it was like you are saying Mick. Everybody knew what everybody else made.  I normally don't pick up my pay, my wife does. That is the traditional way in this part of China. As a result I was surprised when I went with her last month to find out that we had to go to an empty conference room before the foreign affairs fellow would open the sealed envelope. He then had us count it and sign for it. He told me that it was so that no one would know how much I was getting paid.Yeah, we go through a similar process on pay day. In fact, the officer often brings the pay to our apartment. This, too, is done in the name of secrecy. But then they go and post the salaries in a public place. Makes no sense to me. Link to comment
Eric&Yuhui Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 I was rather surprised to find last month that the salaries for the foreign teachers here are kept secret. Â Last year, it was like you are saying Mick. Â Everybody knew what everybody else made. Â Â I normally don't pick up my pay, my wife does. Â That is the traditional way in this part of China. Â As a result I was surprised when I went with her last month to find out that we had to go to an empty conference room before the foreign affairs fellow would open the sealed envelope. Â He then had us count it and sign for it. Â He told me that it was so that no one would know how much I was getting paid.Yeah, we go through a similar process on pay day. In fact, the officer often brings the pay to our apartment. This, too, is done in the name of secrecy. But then they go and post the salaries in a public place. Makes no sense to me. must have learned procedures from consular affairs.... Link to comment
floyd Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Frankly, I don't know why this is made such a big deal of..After all, we all know wthat Bill Gates is making... Do you know how much he is making? Or just the floor on what he is making? Link to comment
Eric&Yuhui Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Frankly, I don't know why this is made such a big deal of..After all, we all know wthat Bill Gates is making... Do you know how much he is making? Or just the floor on what he is making?well, technically, he's only "making" as a MS salary a bit more than you and I make... ( I think less than a Mil ) . The rest is paper money.... Stocks..... Worthless really unless you buy or sell it....But I've heard he could afford a 2003 pinto ! Link to comment
floyd Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Frankly, I don't know why this is made such a big deal of..After all, we all know wthat Bill Gates is making... Do you know how much he is making? Or just the floor on what he is making?well, technically, he's only "making" as a MS salary a bit more than you and I make... ( I think less than a Mil ) . The rest is paper money.... Stocks..... Worthless really unless you buy or sell it....But I've heard he could afford a 2003 pinto !Well we also can look up how many shares of Microsoft stock he has, and figure out just how many millions he is getting from the dividend they now pay also. He has been selling shares regular to diversify at least a little for years though, and we do not have any idea how much he makes on what he has invested most of the money into, so we just know a floor amount on his income/wealth. Link to comment
Eric&Yuhui Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Frankly, I don't know why this is made such a big deal of..After all, we all know wthat Bill Gates is making... Do you know how much he is making? Or just the floor on what he is making?well, technically, he's only "making" as a MS salary a bit more than you and I make... ( I think less than a Mil ) . The rest is paper money.... Stocks..... Worthless really unless you buy or sell it....But I've heard he could afford a 2003 pinto !Well we also can look up how many shares of Microsoft stock he has, and figure out just how many millions he is getting from the dividend they now pay also. He has been selling shares regular to diversify at least a little for years though, and we do not have any idea how much he makes on what he has invested most of the money into, so we just know a floor amount on his income/wealth.Floyd, this is depressing OK??? LOLHow the hell did we get to that discussion anyway? Did I get side-tracked AGAIN??? Link to comment
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