Kathie Lingle's Work-Life Blog

MKG MNY and LVG LIF

March 25, 2008 — Not long ago on my short drive to work, I alerted to the message on the license plate of the black Chevy Suburban in front of me, which proudly declared what I quickly surmised to be a primary value of the driver,  “MKG MNY.”  In my four years of residence in Arizona, I have been struck by the abundance and variety of vanity plates, and often find myself pondering the significance of the statements they make.  My overactive mind frequently meanders, making up stories about the owners of the cars and why they feel compelled to add yet another expense on to what is already a huge investment in auto registration (which is based on the value of the vehicle in this state), car insurance and license fees.

For a few seconds, I entertained the fantasy of somehow pulling this particular driver over and engaging him or her in a debate about the relative merits of making money versus living a full life, as if these were polar opposites.  Then, realizing the error of my own logic, I began to laugh at my own temerity in making a value judgment about a total stranger’s priorities.  Truth be told, I like making money too.  A full life is multifaceted, after all.

Not long after settling in at work, my husband called to inform me that the featured graph on the front page of that day’s (March 13, 2008) Money section of USA Today was entitled “Work-life balance tops pay.”   Sure enough, I grabbed my own copy, and there it was in pictures:  “Work-life balance and flexibility” surpassed “compensation” by six percentage points as primary reasons for accepting one’s current position, according to a Hudson survey of 1,634 workers who have been in their job for at least five years.  Never mind the ambiguity about the specified timeframe and wording that seems to confound recruitment and retention motivators.  The point is, armed with The Truth, I should have stopped that driver, waved a copy of USA Today in his or her face and launched the debate.  

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of WorldatWork and its affiliate, Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP).