Compensation and Risk part I

Compensation. It's the reason that thousands of Mexicans flock to the US, despite dangerous terrain in the desert. It's the reason that drug dealers risk their life to bring cocaine to millions of crack-starved junkies. Heck, it's even the reason I mowed my parents lawn. But what you might not know, is that it is the whole reason people date.

Dating as a drug?

One of the 9 definitions for the word drug (as defined by dictionary.com) is this:
"drug (drg) n. A chemical substance, such as a narcotic or hallucinogen, that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior and often addiction."
If we don't limit ourselves to drugs being a chemical substance, can dating be a drug? I submit that the answer is a resounding "H**L yes!" Does it affect behavior? Anyone who has ever had one of their friends become engaged can easily answer that question. Heck, the term "whipped" was developed just to describe the behavioral changes associated with dating. Is it addictive? What drug is more addictive than the touch of a female, honestly? Have you ever held hands with a girl you liked and then immediately never wanted to do it again? I didn't think so. If you're a girl, is the same true? It had better be. So let's remember that we are all drug dealers here, ok? Good.

Drugs in the '70s

Crack cocaine was huge in the US during the 1970s (as was loving...another relationship between drugs and dating? Nah, there really wasn't any 'dating' going on there...). A massive drug cartel was actually infiltrated and studied out in Michigan. The entire operation worked very much like a business. There were a huge amount of people on the bottom (the footsoldiers), another group that had served their time as footsoldiers and now oversaw the actions in certain areas of the city (the overseers), a select group of those overseers who intermediated between the overseers and the main cartel bosses (the intermediates), and finally the bosses. Much like a pyramid, the most amount of people were on the bottom, and the number decreased as you moved up the ranks. The bosses were the people earning millions of dollars, but the average footsoldier earned $3.33 per hour of pushing.

$3.33/hr? I earn more at Wal-mart!

Well, let me be the first to congratulate you on that. However, do you have the chance of catching your bosses eye and perhaps earning anywhere from $100,000 to more than $1,000,000 a year at your precious Wal-mart? I didn't think so. But you also don't risk your life everyday at Wal-mart (unless you're a janitor cleaning the restrooms. I just have a feeling that that job is contributing to the rise in cancer here in the US). Sure, I suppose that it's possible that someday, somewhere, a checker will be run over by a load of carts being brought in from the parking lot, and that an entire gang war will be fought inside Wal-mart with checkers shooting people in the eyes with their radar guns, the electronics department throwing TVs, the pharmacy giving everyone the wrong prescription, and the poor fabric department hitting people with ream after ream of cloth. Eventually a movie will be made about this war with the pictures taken by the photo department. But what are the chances of that happening really?
Now, what are the chances of a similar war happening between drug dealers? A lot more likely. In reality, as a footsoldier in this gang, you had a one in four chance of dying. When a gang war is waged, the people that fight and die are not the bosses, or the intermediates. It's not even the overseers. The lonely footsoldier earning $3.33 per hour are the ones that will be killed in a gang war.

Why do people do it then?

It is all about the compensation and the prospects of better compensation in the future. A wise man once said that "if the prize is big enough, [people] will form a line down the block just hoping for a chance." Who wouldn't want to have a LOT of money? This desire is even stronger because most of the people who become footsoldiers are those that are uneducated, poor, and really have little future. So, a chance at earning millions without worrying about an education is very attractive. Ok...so by now I'm sure your waiting for me to talk about what this has to do with dating. Well, I'm not going to tell you now. Think about it and check back for part II of Compensation and Risk. But before you go off and check your email, only to find that, sadly, there isn't anything new since the last time you checked 10 minutes ago (if your anything like me that is), I'll give you a teaser. In dating, as in drug dealing, you need to make your rewards so attractive that women (if your a guy, I'm sure the same applies to men) will line up just to get a chance at it, even if it means risking their life.