The way the world works

I had a conversation with my mother. She said, Your sister's teenage daughter is getting $60 an hour tutoring English. Your company isn't paying you enough. I said that I enjoyed my current work, and that even in the past when I had to travel to the other end of town, I only got $17 an hour. My mother then said, "Yes but that was before you got your degree." (Actually, no. That was a long time after I got my degree.) My mother said, "Oh well you should definitely be paid more now with your higher degree." I said, "Thank you. I agree. That is the way the world ought to work. Now that I have a higher degree, I ought to be paid more." She added, "I'm trying to say something so very positive to you. I really think you should be paid more. You should tell the world about your talents." I said, "Thank you. Perhaps you can tell the world about my talents. That would be perfect." At this point my mother became defensive. "I'm trying to say something very wonderful to you. I don't understand why you are reacting to anything I say." I told her that I wasn't reacting to anything she said, because so far as I was concerned she had not told me anything new. I said that if she really believed I was so talented. and that the problem was I just hadn't told anyone I was available to work for higher pay, she should harness my siblings on my behalf to tell the world about me. "Well, those people are far too busy with their work and vocations," she spat.