Get Paid To Take Surveys
I saw him the other day, for the first time in many weeks. Disheveled, with a stained, untucked shirt and dirty blue jeans, he was just as I remembered him, only even just a little bit more so. Conversation was awkward, as we walked up to the bar together, and I ordered him a drink. I guess Bill is my friend – has been my friend forever, and I'm not the type to cut off friendships which have been long lasting and rewarding – but I can't help but thin that the more time passes, as I move on in my life and he stagnates in his, the farther that we grow apart, and the less we have in common.
I ask him what he's doing now, and he smiles broadly. “I get paid to take surveys,” he says proudly.
“You get paid to take surveys?” I repeat, confused.
“Yeah,” he says, and then goes on to explain. Apparently there are these sites all over the internet where you can get paid for surveys without ever leaving your home, something which my shut-in friend no doubt appreciates. When I ask “how much do you get paid to take surveys?” there is a pause, and I see in his face a subtle, but nonetheless noticeable twitch.
“Well, you see,” he says, “First you have to join these site which tell you about other sites where you get paid to take surveys...”
“Yeah,” I say, trying not to roll my eyes.
“Yeah,” he replies, “and before you actually get paid to take surveys on these sites, you have to complete these offers for these really good deals... but, well, I should probably getting a good fat check for a few hundreds by the end of the month, and since I'm living on the cheap at the girlfriends house...” “Sounds like the life,” I say.
As I leave the bar, I think about Bill and shake my head. He's always trying to do something like that. Before this “ get paid to take surveys” thing, he was trying to work at home cold-calling people. Before that, it was stuffing envelopes. I know his philosophy of life, and in some ways I even respect it. It boils down to relax and don't work any harder than you have to. But I can't help thinking that, with my steady 40 hours a week, I actually get to have a more relaxed life than he does, always hustling for the next job.