Is it rude to ask someone how much they earn?

[chalmers]

:hmm:

I liked celling phones. I actually got to hand the customer something tangible and watch them enjoy it. I only hear from my customers now if something goes wrong and they manage to get me out of the thousands of reps we have when they call back.

So I at least called a previous job? Haha.

*pats self on back for no reason*

 

[rcpratt]

:hmm:

I liked celling phones. I actually got to hand the customer something tangible and watch them enjoy it. I only hear from my customers now if something goes wrong and they manage to get me out of the thousands of reps we have when they call back.

I don't know if that was intentional, but it was amusing.

 

[Farang]

Among younger and working class people, it seems to be shared more freely. Maybe because we all know we're poor anyway so there is no shame or posturing.

It is rude though. I think younger people share it more freely because it hasn't created a problem for them before, but eventually it will. Whether its just awkwardness or resentment or whatever.

 

[rudeguy]

So I at least called a previous job? Haha.

*pats self on back for no reason*

I sold phones from 99 to 08. From bag phones to BlackBerrys.

 

[kami333]

My salary is a public record.

 

[Stuxnet]

Is it rude to ask someone how much they earn? I mean anyone in general. Please vote.

How could there possibly even be a thread/poll? For what reason on any planet in any fucking universe would you think it's okay to ask someone what they make, unless you're processing their loan, etc?

Dumbest !@#$ing thread since I joined.

 

[nLinked]

Are you asking because you're curious or are you asking because it matters?

One is rude and the other is only mildly ignorant.

My friend thinks its OK. I pointed him to Google results showing its not OK. This thread settled our convo in seconds

 

[Malak]

It's more rude than asking the fat chick in the elevator when the baby is due.

I don't have this issue. I don't care when it's due so I don't ask.

I think people are too self-conscious about how much they make, but it is socially unacceptable to ask in many situations.

 

[Stuxnet]

My friend thinks its OK. I pointed him to Google results showing its not OK. This thread settled our convo in seconds

Ahh, then your friend is exactly like one of my EX friends. I stopped talking to a guy 5 or 6 years ago over precisely this. We were old high school buddies, but he spit so much shit all the time that it just got old. The icing on the cake was being asked how much I was making every time we got together for a beer.

 

[Blackjack200]

Others have mentioned this, but it's just as rude many times to volunteer how much you make.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Is it rude to ask someone how much they earn? I mean anyone in general (i.e. stranger, coworker in another dept who you spoke to only a few times and know their role but are not close freinds, just general people). Please vote.

Ask 10 strangers and report back...

 

[zerocool84]

Is it rude to ask the length of someone's penis?

KT

Don't ask, just show. D:

FTFY

 

[Blackjack200]

FTFY

Is it rude to walk into a board room and set it on the table so everyone else knows where they stand?

 

[DaWhim]

depend on the culture. when i went back to china, the people will ask me that like nothing special.

 

[gooseman]

Maybe not rude but it's none of your fucking business!

 

[jhu]

It's more rude than asking the fat chick in the elevator when the baby is due.

And how do you know she's not pregnant? Huh?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Only if you're not a middle-aged Asian woman. Then it's normal.

 

[nublikescake]

Yes, absolutely. You never know what kind of awkward spot you're putting the other person in. Do they make very little and you're making them self-conscious? Do they make a lot and now they're afraid you'll hit them up for money? In either case the consequence of you knowing their income gives them a potentially legitimate fear that you'll treat them differently.

That's pretty much exactly what I think. I can say from experience that people's attitudes and behaviours DO change after they find out how much you make, especially if you make more than them and doubly so if you work with them at the same place.

Co-workers have also asked borrowed money from me precisely for this reason.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

Depends on circumstances.
Only time I've spoke about it is when it comes up in conversation naturally.

 

[Turin39789]

I know roughly what my coworkers/bosses make every period, and we usually show each other or exact amounts each month. We are on a pooled commission divvied up by our number of hours.

 

[jlee]

I've never thought much of it...mine is public info anyway. I don't care if people know what I make and I don't really see why people get worked up about it. /shrug

 

[JMapleton]

I had probably the biggest paycheck in the history of my department on December 17th and I honestly went around showing my pay stub to everyone I was cool with (not to strangers or people I wasn't "buddies" with).

We're very open about that stuff in my department because we compete with each other on hours worked and commissions.

 

[Dumac]

I would only ask really close friends or family if I knew they wouldn't be upset about sharing.

How much a person makes is a pretty private thing, so I think it would be rude to ask a stranger about it.

In an ideal society, people would have no insecurities and therefore no qualms about sharing their salary, but that isn't the case

 

[magomago]

seems like in sales it is shared because you look at the commission and total number of [whatever] sold.

elsewhere....not really. With closer friends I don't mind because we are close friends and I'm not going to treat them differently.

With general people I don't know - I just typically cite the range that a person doing a salary search online will find. Usually has a good 20-25k spread, and that usually shuts them up. You still basically tell them nothing they couldn't have found out on their own, but they treat it like you let them in on some good info.

And then when people are drunk, they just volunteer info like crazy whether or not that was your intention x_x
"Hows your job doing?"
"GREAT! ATOT just gave me a raise, I'm pulling in 20Gs a year now!"

 

[magomago]

I had probably the biggest paycheck in the history of my department on December 17th and I honestly went around showing my pay stub to everyone I was cool with (not to strangers or people I wasn't "buddies" with).

We're very open about that stuff in my department because we compete with each other on hours worked and commissions.

Share it with us darling.