Lucky to be born in the United States? Sure! Lucky to not have gotten cancer? Yup. Lucky to have not been hurt in a random automobile accident? I was such a stu

Lucky to be born in the United States? Sure! Lucky to not have gotten cancer? Yup. Lucky to have not been hurt in a random automobile accident? I was such a stupid driver in high school. Lucky to have not lost my mind as many males do in their late teens/early 20s? Oh god yes. Lucky to have the good friends that I have? Still yes. Had I simply sat on the other side of the room of CS101 I'd have joined a different project team and have had different friends in school and to this day. Lucky to be a gainfully employed programmer on salary? I feel I could do that 10 out of 10 times. Or 9 out of 10 times if it helps the conversation. In different realities I'd work at different companies. Specialized my talents differently. Probably even live in a different city. Definitely have a different partner. But I'd have a good job somewhere. In that I'm confident. I've been "unlucky" in that no project I've ever worked on has ever blown up. Never seen a fat bonus. I've still drive the same 1999 Volkswagen Jetta I got in 2004. No fancy car for me. No lucky stock options that hit it big. I'm arguably lucky to be a programmer. Born in a good year for it. But I don't think I'm lucky to have a good job that pays well. If I were born a few years earlier I'd simply have picked a different career. I could have been a lawyer. Or a mechanical engineer. Even a doctor. I find a lot of things interesting. For careers I'd have always picked something interesting that pays well. I like teaching people quite a lot. But it doesn't pay well. So it was never a consideration. If teachers averaged 6 figures it'd have been on my short list as well.