but friends who are freelancers/contractors often WILL talk about rates for particular kinds of work and with particular employers, for comparative purposes. it's one of the ways you know when you're doing really well or getting screwed, whether to push hard in rate negotiations or to ease up. within corporations, however, i agree completely that it's considered very bad form to ask someone's salary or to parade your own around (or to bitch about it, for that matter), except perhaps among close friends. even then, it's tricky. is there not something phallic about salaries? where's zizek when we need him . . . ;-) --------------
Me:
People in Russia certainly will not tell you how much they earn, because they'll afraid you'll rat them out to the tax police and maybe get them fired.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal