# They'd have to pay me! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308 "2017-10-19T17:46:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [October 19, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/21 "2017-10-19T19:09:36Z")
For anything that’s merely boring or uninteresting to me, I wouldn’t ask more than about $30 an hour. You’d have to get something that’s actively offensive for me to raise my price, in which case it goes up higher than anyone could plausibly be considering paying me, at which point the exact dollar amount becomes irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/22 "2017-10-19T19:17:42Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > I would require at least $5000 to attend a Trump rally. You must be a fan. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/23 "2017-10-19T19:18:08Z")
To some extent, people’s prices for unappealing use of their time will be dictated by how desperate they are for income. There was a time where I was willing to (and did) work in a fast food restaurant for near minimum wage. 30 years later, my finances are in great shape, so I’m less enthusiastic about that line of work. The novelty means I’d be willing to work for an hour for $100, but if you want me to cover an 8-hour shift, I’ll need several hundred dollars per hour. I don’t think I’d be willing to attend a pro-wrestling match for less than $1,000; it’s just too stupid. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/24 "2017-10-19T19:24:24Z")
So we’re clear, we’ve now established _what_ all you Trump rally attendees are; We’re just down to haggling over the price. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/25 "2017-10-19T19:26:36Z")
Anything with unavoidable very loud music I wouldn’t attend for less than £30/hour. Most other things that are merely unpleasent or boring I’d do for £10/hour easily. This would include a Trump (or Labour/Green/BNP etc.) rally if all i had to do was attend. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/26 "2017-10-19T19:31:53Z")
Give me a thousand bucks to listen to Hillary and we will talk. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/27 "2017-10-19T19:42:41Z")
n/m ---
**Author:** ![vtxrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d26b3c/32.png) [@vtxrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vtxrider)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/28 "2017-10-19T19:44:37Z")
I am at the point in my life that we are not hurting for money, so it would have to be significant. While I work for less than $100 an hour in my job, my non-work time is more valuable. I think it would probably take $100 an hour for something that I was even mildly interested in (but not desiring to go). For something that I would not even watch on TV at my home, it would have to be significantly greater. Like allow me to buy something great/take a great family trip kind of money. For example, a political rally for the opposition party, would probably take at least $10k. If it is something that I am physically afraid of (heights), I am going to stick with no money is enough. Maybe in reality, there is a number sufficiently large, but of course no one is reasonably going to offer that kind of money. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/29 "2017-10-19T19:51:07Z")
I knew a young lady who was allergic to everything, Through her doctor she was sent to an allergist, He got her into a study, through that she was hired on to test products on her back with highly allergenic stuff. They paid her many $$. She was fond if saying, at the time, She made her money on her back! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/30 "2017-10-19T19:52:54Z")
$70/hour was what I was making at my last paying gig (including benefits), so that would be the starting point for negotiations. And, yeah, I’d attend a Trump rally for the same rate, as long as I could sit there silently with my arms crossed. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/31 "2017-10-19T19:56:30Z")
Just yesterday, I was talking to some friends about a multi-artist concert in a couple of months. Obviously I’ve already bought my ticket, because Kesha is one of the artists. My plan is to show up shortly before Kesha’s set begins and leave right after she finishes. You’d have to pay me quite a bit of money to suffer through the Chainsmokers and whoever else is scheduled to perform that night. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/32 "2017-10-19T20:08:08Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > I actively dislike attending the various auto-sports: Grand Prix, NASCAR, etc. I would need some major change (and the freedom to bring a book and earplugs) to put up with the boredom, noise, and smell. Let’s say $250. (That’s a good chunk of change to me.) Plus a generous expense account. I have no interest whatsoever in cars or racing, _but_ in 2000 I attended the Indy 500 with a group of guys, one of whom had access to some free tickets. It was a blast! The shear spectacle of the event was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/33 "2017-10-19T20:27:03Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > There is not enough money in the world for me to go hear either Adele of Celine Dion perform live. I would go to a Trump rally for a million dollars. Basically the same, only I _would_ attend an Adele or Celine Dion concert for $1M. That would easily close the gap between what my wife and I have saved, and what we feel we’d need to retire. I’d trade three hours of auditory agony for skipping out of work several years early. In a heartbeat. Hell, I’d probably suffer through Adele or Celine Dion\* for a mere $30K. Ditto other artists/groups I detest, from Journey to John Mayer. Maybe $200K for Trump, and being allowed to wear my ‘Truck Fump’ shirt into the Trump rally. And I would have to be paid even if ejected. Sports events that merely bore me (pretty much every sport besides baseball and football, and all baseball games not involving the Nats): $1000 per hour, including travel. Actually, including all time from leaving my front door until my return. Nats: I’ll go for free. Football: pay me $100K, which I’d donate to a charity that helps football players potentially affected by CTE. \*“When Canada is dead and gone, there’ll be no more Celine Dion!” - SP:BL&U ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/34 "2017-10-19T20:45:19Z")
Man, I have no problem with crowds, sports, speakers, etc. I can usually find some interest. You’d have to pay me about $5000 to attend a live birth. Human or other mammal. Grrrrrrross! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/35 "2017-10-19T20:56:31Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > So we’re clear, we’ve now established _what_ all you Trump rally attendees are; We’re just down to haggling over the price. Damn you, I was just about to post that! Here it is anyway: > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I would go to a Trump rally for a million dollars. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > Would you go to a Trump rally for $500,000? She’s already established what kind of girl she is. Now you’re just haggling over the price. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/36 "2017-10-19T20:58:43Z")
Skiing. You want me to put something slippery on my feet, and then I’ll try to keep standing while I slide down the side of a mountain at high speeds? And so the chair lift that can break down and leave me dangling in the cold, I guess that’s the _least bad_ part? Yeah, start putting cash in my hand; I’ll tell you when to stop. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/37 "2017-10-19T21:00:49Z")
There are lots of things you’d have to pay me a lot to do. I value my time highly, and I’m easily bored/annoyed by stuff I don’t like. Stuff I’d do if someone I like buys the ticket and/or invites me: - Ballet - Opera - Football game - Normal church service (as long as I didn’t have to participate) Stuff you’d have to pay me extra to attend: - Country music concert (current country - I like classic country) - Baseball game - Golf tournament - NASCAR Race - Baby shower (I’ll send a gift–just don’t ask me to attend, please) - Megachurch service (again, as long as I don’t have to participate or contribute) Stuff you’d have to pay me a LOT extra to attend: - Trump rally (if I could sit in the back and be really quiet) - Birth - Gangsta rap concert - Death metal concert - Fancy party (anything that required me to wear a dress and discuss boring grownup topics) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/38 "2017-10-19T21:11:03Z")
I agree with a whole lot of the above responses! Especially regarding spectator and/or professional sports. To be sure, there’s a lot of stuff there that I _would_ participate in (ETA: Well, I mean more like attend as a spectator) for some amount of money. Things I _wouldn’t_ do for _any_ amout? For me, that would be scuba diving or any similar aquatic activity. I’ve never managed to learn to swim (yes, I’ve tried), so I’m really skittish about that. Skydiving? Maybe. It’s on my list of things to at least give a try. Heck, we wear parachutes when we fly gliders, so it would make some sense to have at least a few lesson in using the things! (If at first you don’t succeed, maybe skydiving isn’t your thing.) Thing is, stuff like skydiving isn’t really all _that_ popular like the OP posits — it’s more of a niche thing. So I see it as a bit outside the scope of OP’s question. Same with gliders. I’ve made no secret at all, over the past year, of my interest in flying sailplanes. I’ve posted many remarks, everything from describing some of my more specatcular flights around Lake Tahoe, down to a recent post describing what holds the wings onto the fuselage. (TL;DR: In some glider models, _not much!_ :eek: ) But it’s very much a niche sport, and obviously not everyone is all keen to give it a try. Well, okay, their loss. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/39 "2017-10-19T21:15:57Z")
OK, here’s a very specific one: My BIL has had a ski boat for several years. He got it when his father passed away. (Nobody else wanted it.) His family is not entranced by it and his wife is put out at the money he spends on it. For a variety of reasons, he only takes it out on the lake about twice a year. Every summer, I get the dreaded call asking if I want to go out with him. (I think he feels that he has to go out at least twice a year just to keep his wife off his back.) Mind you, this is not an invitation to go skiing. He doesn’t even have a set of skis. He picks me up at the house and we drive 45 minutes to where he stores the boat. We hitch it up, take the cover off, check everything, take it to a gas station to fuel it, drive 30 minutes to the lake, put it in, check everything again, and then take off on the lake. We putter around. Then we do everything in reverse, including washing down the boat, spraying it with protectant, etc. The whole day’s activities take over seven hours, with just a little over two hours aimlessly chugging around on a lake with hardly any other boats and nothing at all to see. I always feel I’m the “hired help” he needs to get a chore out of the way. I figure $75/hour. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308/40 "2017-10-19T21:19:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I have no interest whatsoever in cars or racing, _but_ in 2000 I attended the Indy 500 with a group of guys, one of whom had access to some free tickets. > > It was a blast! The shear spectacle of the event was awesome. See, that’s the sort of thing I can easily see attending (as a spectator, not a participant) once in my life, and having the same reaction as you — which I suspect is exactly the point you’re making here — but hardly interested in doing it as a regular thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyd-have-to-pay-me/799308.md?page=3)