+JMJ+
I lost my very lucrative job a few weeks ago (I was falsely accused of a violation of policy, and under a customer's threat of lawsuits, I was dismissed so the client I worked for would not have the legal problems). I went from nearly $50,000 a year to zero, with no appreciable savings and no 401k or other fund I could draw from.
Recently, there was an article posted here expressing a sentiment that said, in effect, "if you have a marketable skill and there's a chance to be paid for USING that skill, you need to go do it" or something to that effect. Anyone recall what article I mean? It was published on a secular blog, IIRC.
Anyway, I have a wife and three young children to support. We home-school, thus, educating our children and keeping our home is my wife's work, and she and I are in total agreement that she should not be working outside the home.
I have been a musician for nearly 25 years. I have performed at almost every level with the exception of theaters and stadiums. I've been in the seediest drunk-infested holes in the wall, and I've been in nightclubs. I've played many kinds of popular music and have always been very well received.
My dilemma is this: if I so chose, I could contact a couple of other men I know, rehearse some material that we all know in common already, and be ready to be paid to play music in the clubs within a matter of a couple of weeks.
If everything were equal (the money being offered staying the same as it has for some time now), I PERSONALLY could be making $300 a week AT THE OUTSET, in other words, right from the first few gigs I booked. That's not a lot of money, but it's the same amount of money that I'd be making if I worked in a fast-food place (which I cannot do because of my physical problems).
If I've got the skill set, there's work to be had and I can get to work fairly quickly, what reasons would there be for me NOT to go back to playing music in the clubs?
I can think of a few, potentially:
1) I don't drink alcohol anymore, and these places make their money selling alcohol [I'm not 'in recovery'; I just choose not to drink]
2) these places are full of people who routinely attend so that they can indulge various immoral appetites
3) the music often contains suggestive or scandalous lyrical content
So... do I get over my 'scruples' and go sing rhythm and blues music in the nightclubs so I can make money to support my family, or do I sell off everything that's not essential, find odd jobs, or seek out other ways to keep us solvent?
Bear in mind that I have physical problems which severely limit my ability to take most jobs. I can't lift, I can't stand or sit for more than a few minutes at a time without pain, I have a cardiac arrhythmia and a severe cataract in one eye.
I have a commercial driver's license, but I can't pass the Dept. of Transportation physical which would be required for me to accept a driving job.
I didn't even physically qualify for the job I just lost; I was hired sight-unseen because the company didn't have anyone else on the payroll who would commute for (at the time) only ten hours a week. I would not be eligible to be hired for that job if I were applying today.
So... advice? I do have a strong leaning in one direction here; I just want to get other opinions because I am sure that the majority will favor one choice over the other.