This idea is foreign to me. It’s so foreign, in fact, that I have to stop myself from calling bullshit whenever I hear it (fortunately, I’m used to being the odd one out in most things so I can cope pretty well with other people having a completely alien mindset). I suppose that there are, in fact, people who love their jobs so much that they can’t possibly imagine not doing it every day. But these people are the most fortunate of the fortunate: somehow, the very best thing in the world for them was not only attainable but actually attained. Bravo.

Perhaps I’m just honest with myself, or perhaps I’m just discontent, but I’m not that fortunate. That’s not to say that I don’t love my job. I do. I get to do interesting work with really great people and I have a fantastic management team all the way up the chain and, to top it off, the work I do directly benefits the world. As a job, I can’t really ask for anything more. This might even be the best job on the planet for me right now.

But it’s still a job, you know? I still have to get up every day and go, even when I have a headache. There are still pretty awful parts that I have to deal with anyway. That’s why they pay me, right? And it works out pretty well. They give me money and I get up in the morning and deal with the unpleasant bits of the job (but the joke’s on them, because the vast majority of the job is pretty fun!).

So if Bill Gates and Warren Buffet went crazy and gave me their fortunes, I just can’t imagine working for a living. I’d go to school and get a math degree (and since I wouldn’t have to worry about tuition, I could take it a bit more leisurely and avoid the stress) and maybe even more degrees after that. I’d travel the world (I hate traveling, but I suspect I’d like it a bit more if it were by private jet to fancy hotels). I’d start some foundations and try to save the world (Even the actual Bill Gates finally decided this was more worthwhile than working). I’d follow Yo-Yo Ma around on tour for a while.

I most certainly would not use Windows.

Ok. So, maybe I’m approaching this from the wrong angle. Maybe most people, when they consider this topic, don’t immediately jump to becoming fabulously wealthy overnight and still going in to their nine-to-five the next day. Maybe I need to scale it back a bit. Instead of Bill Gates giving me all his money, let’s instead imagine that he’s just going to be giving me a weekly stipend: enough to live comfortably but not outrageously. Let’s say something around $150k a year (and, because he’s extra generous, he’ll pay the taxes on it as well).

That certainly puts an end to my plans of world-tour via private jet. Still, it’s easily enough to go get a couple of stress-free degrees at my favorite institution of higher learning. Or to start my very own Web 2.0 company (as long as I’m the only employee, I would never have to worry about making a profit…). Or I could become a full-time web crackpot, hanging around message boards talking about the aliens who are stealing my light bulbs.

I still wouldn’t use Windows.

Ok. Maybe I’m still imagining too much wealth. Maybe Bill isn’t as generous as I thought and he only wants to give me my own current salary. This, by definition, is exactly enough for me to quit working and still maintain my current lifestyle. I could still start that Web 2.0 company, but as the cost of living increased and Bill’s gift didn’t, I’d be a little more worried about turning a profit and I don’t particularly want to be an actual entrepreneur. Maybe I could still go get a math degree, but the cost of education is soaring and I’d be under similar pressures to get it done in a short amount of time.

Or, I could keep working and double the amount I pull in every year. And, like I said, I love my job so this wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would keep me busy and by suddenly having double the funds available, I’d certainly have less stress in my life when those unexpected bills pop up.

So, in this last case, I suppose I too would keep working. Probably not forever; I’d have more freedom for saving and investing in this situation and might eventually find myself in an “early retirement” situation (and isn’t this just the name we use when people actually do get to quit their jobs and do things they’d rather do?).

But even then, it’s not because I like my job so much that I can’t imagine doing anything else (though, I should repeat: I do love my job. I just have a good imagination.); it’s because I don’t like stress and in that case, keeping my job would actually lower the amount of stress in my life. That would be all sorts of win.

Sadly, this type of naval gazing doesn’t really accomplish anything. Bill Gates, living the dream, is far too busy trying to save the world to throw large sacks of cash in my direction. So I’ll continue to get up every morning and be extremely happy to go to a job I enjoy going to and doing work I enjoy doing and cashing paychecks that I enjoy spending.