Life in the Village is Pricey

I love using other people's talents. Particularly when they possess a skill I do not have or have not developed. I think it fits in with the "it takes a village" doctrine. I cannot, nor will I ever be able to fix a car. Well, maybe if I take a class and spend umpteen hours underneath a hood but that's not the point. There are already people who know how to do that. I'll use them.

Besides, as a rule, I think most people enjoy sharing their talents. Something that requires extreme effort and thought on my part might easily be done, and happily so, by someone else. Really, it's a win/win situation. I get better/prettier/faster stuff/service/knowledge and they get paid.

That's right...paid. As in....giving them money for their work.

Here is when the problem arises.

By rite of religious belief, I've been taught to be self-reliant. I'm on board with that most of the time for most things. However, I believe exceptions can be made in the name of good taste and level of quality.

There are some services I would love to pay someone to do for me because, usually, the quality of my life would improve. I need and want their help not because I am lazy and needy (well...mostly not) but because my time on this earth is finite and sometimes I need help.

I failed to mention in a previous post about working out with a trainer that I was not paying for her services. The gym offers two free hours to any new member, no doubt hoping the customer will be so impressed with the free service that they'll eventually agree to pay for it.

I'm their gal. This fits right into my philosophy of life. You do something better than I do? And it's something I'm not currently performing at superstar level? I would happily pay you for your help. I include personal training in this philosophy because I think it works and when you're in the business of losing weight and becoming more healthy, why not pay an expert to help you with your goals?

Because they charge too much. And you thought that was a rhetorical question.

I told myself I'd take my two free sessions and run before being sucked into their hard sale spiel, but, instead, I loved the workouts and brought the subject up myself! My trainer pushed me WAY harder than I ever would myself and even when I wanted to quit, I couldn't. There was some he-woman standing right next to me that, for some disturbing psychological reason, I wanted to think highly of me. So I squatted and I lunged and I twisted and I pushed and I lifted and I balanced and I... loved it.

So much that at the conclusion of our second session, I asked her how much more training sessions would be (this is why I don't watch those TV infomercials or allow myself to open the door to people selling boxes of delicious fruit...I'm such a sucker!).

She replied, "Sixty dollars per session. Or, you can get a packet of 12 session for six-hundred dollars."

I have no intention of belittling the hard-working professionals of the fitness world. But, I don't think charging that much is justified. The day-care, a room away, charges me two dollars an hour to protect and entertain my children. Someone else, by virtue of having a nice body and going through a few months of training for a certificate, gets to charge me thirty times that because I'm fat and I need someone else to tell me how many reps I have left or what exercise I'm doing next?

I don't understand how this business model fits in with supply and demand. I didn't ask this trainer how busy she is, so maybe it does fit and trainers everywhere are all crazy busy and making millions, but it seems to me that if they simply charged less, they'd have more clients filling up more hours of the day and it could actually be a career instead of some fit person's way to make extra cash. But that's just a large lady's opinion. And I clearly don't quite get "it" anyway.

Alas, no trainer for me. Today, I went and attempted to remember the moves and weights and sequences and only made it forty minutes before I was at a loss of what to do. I was sweaty and got my heart rate up but freely admit that I was no where near the level I was with the trainer by my side.

I have no point, because I couldn't afford one even if I thought the price was fair.

Here are some other things I want but can't afford.

A chef. I'm not demanding. Once or twice a week would be plenty.

A personal shopper. Especially for the grocery store. But I wouldn't even mind someone running into Old Navy for me to see what the good deals are.

An interior decorator. I recognize a nice design, but certainly can't come up with it on my own.

A housekeeper. For every reason imaginable.

A nanny (but not full-time. Just someone who was always on call so that I'd never have to go through the dreadful experience of trying to actually find someone to babysit).

A make-up artist. My thirties are doing all sorts of things to my face that I'd rather have concealed or disguised.

A thank-you card maker. I've managed to hire this out a few times. I love purchasing cute cards others have made. I suppose it might help if I also hire a thank-you card writer, so that they actually get used. I'd hire a mailer as well, due to my post office issues, but I think it could fall under the job description for personal shopper. Bonus.

There's my village. Of course, I can't afford to live in it, so I'm in the double-wide ten miles down the road writing a blog post about it.