Happiness Whores

How much would you pay somebody to make you happy -- even for just a little while?
How much could you charge if somebody paid you to make them happy -- even for just a little while?

I saw a Twitter post the other day that listed several categories of celebrities (athletes, movie producers, top actors, etc.) that earn lots of money but have little influence on the education and care of our society. That list was compared to the salaries of teachers, social workers, public servants, etc.

I realize there are some athletes and actors that work their butts off to scrape by on their way up the ladder in their chosen field. I also get that art and athleticism are worthy of compensation.
But the grand disconnect between the millions of dollars paid to some celebrities vs the salaries paid to teachers and others is astounding! And we support this system every time we pay 50 bucks (or lots more) to go to a ballgame or 20 bucks to go to a movie.

Have our lives become so bad that we are willing to work long hours and pay huge chunks of our income to find an escape from the daily routine?
How much of our phone, internet, and cable or satellite TV bills is to keep us entertained?
Has finding ways to escape from life become our way of life?

Don't get me wrong.
I love being entertained!
I've even had the pleasure of being the entertainer from time to time (though not with the huge $$).
I'm just trying to find some perspective in my relatively small world. Truthfully, I find as much joy in riding my motorcycle to and from a St. Louis Cardinal's game (about 500 miles round trip) as I do from watching the game. And I'm more comfortable watching from home, but I do miss that deliciously unhealthy ballpark dog!
The same can be said for the UFC Fights or any other form of giving my money to somebody else so that I can be "happy" for a short period of time. Most of the time I do these things without really thinking about it.

But, is it worth it?

I don't know.
When I think about paying somebody else to make me happy it does make pause and ask, "Why?"
And now, I'm also going to be asking, "Is it worth it?"
"Does this person/company/organization deserve this much of my money to bring this amount of happiness/escape/adventure into my life?"

Hmmm...

John <><