I met a casual acquaintance in real life a few days ago and we got to talking about how he was on vacation, but wanted to look for a new job because he didn't think he earned enough. He told me how much he made and how much he wanted to make, and we chatted about what I did and the fact that we were in a similar line of work. Then he said "If you don't mind my asking, how much do you make?"
I replied with "I *do* mind you asking". Thinking back on it, that wasn't really accurate. What I should have said was "I don't mind you asking, but I don't want to answer." I don't mind the question, even if it caught me a bit off guard. I think it's considered rude because talking about money is one of the things I've been taught to avoid (like sex, religion and politics... I grew up thinking that it's safer to avoid these topics with everyone but those closest to you).
Anyway, it feels different when the question is posed directly to me in person out in the real world than when it's posed to a group on an internet discussion board. In real life if someone asks you a direct question that you don't want to answer, you have to craft an answer and you have to do it on the spot. On an internet discussion board, you don't have to respond to a question at all if you don't want to. And if you do want to, you can think about your answer for a few hours (or even days).
@colleeny25 put the question out there for discussion. She talked about how much she made and was curious what other people were doing on an anonymous discussion board where people discuss Mystery Shopping. That's not the same in my opinion as responding directly to her and asking how much she makes in her day job. I think you were doing it to prove a point, but all I see is the chip on your shoulder whenever anyone asks about how much people make. We get it. You think it's rude. And you responded back with rudeness of your own. I actually don't think her question was that rude and that you look overly sensitive and defensive whenever this topic comes up. But that's just my opinion and I'm just an anonymous person on the internet, so feel free to ignore me.
Edited to add: this was supposed to be a response to @bgriffin , but the forum has gremlins today as evidenced by Colleen's 3 replies
Shopper in California's Bay Area
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2019 07:43PM by CaliGirl925.