The road less traveled.......and the soup kitchen queue

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a poker dealer!
I'm positive that these two sentences are not often spoken one right after the other. I know that I never uttered the second in response to the first. Frankly, I am not sure what grown up actually means. I've often wondered how I was supposed to act when I turned 25, 30,35 38 etc. With the exception of marriage/children I've pretty much done what I assumed was expected. Graduate from high school, graduate from college, get a real job, pay my bills. During those 15 years in the "normal" world 60 hours of work=$xxx, 30 hours of work=$xxx, ditto for 40 hours of work=the same $xxx. If that didn't make any sense, I was always a salaried employee. As a dealer, a small hourly wage is the only constant. The bottom line is that if you push the pots to the "right" people the results can be lucrative. If those same pots get pushed to players who choose, for any number of reasons, not to bestow a gratuity, the results can be the opposite of lucrative. Obviously, you can perform the same functions, in exactly the same way, and witness outcomes that are vastly disparate. Honestly, depending on the generosity of others leaves me with an uneasy feeling that I have not yet come to terms with. I'm not at all sure that I will ever be completely comfortable with the whole concept. Although I know that there is a significant difference-- like the fact that I am performing a function in return for the toke that I may receive-- I often ponder the similarities between myself and the ubiquitous LV off-ramp panhandler. Holy steaming mound of crap Batman! Isn't that a comforting thought?