# How much have you been paid reading the Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076 "2014-04-14T11:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/1 "2014-04-14T11:02:44Z")
Or in other words: If you were to tally up all the hours you’ve spent on the Dope _while at work_; how big of a paycheck would you be looking at? 😃 I’m sure mine’s in the high 1000’s. And to think, some of you scoff at the idea of paying for a membership! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/2 "2014-04-14T11:15:59Z")
It depends on how you break things up with my job. I came up with about $2600/year based on working 83 days/year and spending about 10 minutes per work day on the SDMB. However that doesn’t count reserve days (on call) as work days and doesn’t factor in time spent on the SDMB on reserve days. If I were to factor in reserve days the time spent on the SDMB would go right up but my hourly pay would go right down. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/3 "2014-04-14T11:19:06Z")
I spent four years doing night shift where for a lot of time there wasn’t much to do while monitoring the machines I was running. I would read almost every thread. There was a shift bonus of 30% for that as well 😃 That and all the normal reading would give me a very high number I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/4 "2014-04-14T11:33:37Z")
I only ever read at home, so zero dollars. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/5 "2014-04-14T11:37:31Z")
I’m self employed, so paying both sides of whichever tax that is means I’m actually barely breaking even.☹ ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/6 "2014-04-14T11:45:07Z")
Hundreds. Really only view it for a minute or two at work, maybe once a week or so, typically while waiting for a large work-related file to upload/download, or for a work-related computer processing routine to run. But there have been a few occasions where late-into-the-night Doper activity has made me tired and less productive at work the following day, so that must have some monetary value. Still “hundreds,” I’d say. (I don’t have a high salary to begin with). ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/7 "2014-04-14T12:11:26Z")
I selected “1000s” because I was a little embarrassed to choose the top choice, but if I did the math it might be close. Not that I’m extremely highly paid, but I’ve been on the board for 8 years and the first couple of years, I was at a job where I could surf extensively. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/8 "2014-04-14T13:20:39Z")
I’m not allowed to post at work, simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/9 "2014-04-14T13:36:50Z")
I put down “chump change”, because I almost never access the Dope while I’m “on the clock”, so to speak. But there has been a time or two that I’ve used the Dope for help with something I was ultimately getting paid for, so I suppose those count. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/10 "2014-04-14T14:20:00Z")
Chump change. The word “dope” in the URL makes me too uncomfortable to access the site any place where my usage may be logged and reviewed. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/11 "2014-04-14T20:48:57Z")
I’m retired so its all on my own time. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/12 "2014-04-14T21:01:22Z")
Like Hari Seldon, I’m retired, so sitting in front of my computer wasting time is my job now. I was born for this job! ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/13 "2014-04-14T21:32:04Z")
I’m being paid to read the Dope right now! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-have-you-been-paid-reading-the-dope/686076/14 "2014-04-14T22:21:00Z")
As many of you know, I work offshore, and on our limited boat internet, the Dope is one of the few things I can reliably count on to pass the time. I would hazard a guess that I’ve probably been paid 20,000-30,000 to read the Straight Dope on company time, but wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more than that. There really are long stretches of time in my job where there’s nothing else to do.