New Salary List is Out

One of the things I love about Mother's Day here in the US is that story they run every year about "If mom got paid for what she did, she'd make $150,000 a year" because they include cook, maid, teacher, etc.  Yet Father's Day rolls around and no one adds on handy man, gardener, mechanic, roofer etc.

But wait, what if I took an average day in my firehouse and log what I did, then made a similar chart?  Oh dear Gods am I underpaid.

Line Cook - $25,000/year - First thing in the morning is firing up breakfast and it's never just for yourself.

Housekeeper - $21,000/year - Kitchen, dorm, bahrooms, floors and laundry all need to be done by 9 AM.

Bus Driver - $30,000 - Pre-trip inspection, maintain higher standards and drivers' license.  Not to mention the part about taking people where they want to go.  This will cover Taxi Driver.

Event Planner - $43,000 - We need to shop for and feed 9 meaning a menu, cooking the meal, then offering entertainment for after.

Personal Trainer - $54,000 - Keeping the troops motivated to stay in shape takes effort.  Not to mention climbing the 14 floors for the burnt popcorn.

Social Worker - $60,000 - Trying to help people who think they have no other options can be stressful.

Nurse - $69,000 - I am rendering advanced care without direct supervision from a physician, and this is the closest comparable field.

Lifeguard - $25,000 - Surf rescue dispatch.

Nanny - $23,000 - A school tour comes by.

Teacher - $57,000 - Gave a drill on the ALS bag to the companies.

Building Inspector - $33,000 - School exit drills and fire inspections fill out the afternoon.

Sleep therapist - $54,000 - Studying why I am still awake at 2:30 AM is taking longer than it should.

So add it up and it's, well, a lot.  But we're not always doing all those things are we?  We do a bit of this here and a bit of that there, so it all makes sense in the end.

EMT - $40,000

Paramedic - $60,000

Firefighter - $43,000

Firefighter/Paramedic - $59,000 (Someone explain that to me)

*All these figures are from Free Salary Search.com which bases the numbers by your IP address so these are all numbers where I am.  Yours may vary, but they'll likely vary all together.