It'd differ by the job I'm comparing to, but in general, at the pizza place, the role and goals were pretty clear, my boss was outstanding, we were rarely idle and never given busywork, occasionally I got to save the day, and we made customers happy (in person!) many times every single day.

My highest-paying jobs generally lacked most or all of those qualities.

Thank you for sharing! Fulfillment at work is about many intangibles beyond pay.

Possibly the most thoughtful comment I've ever read on this site :)

Gosh, thanks for your kind words!

Simple part-time job, clear expectations, no pressure to innovate, working with a crew of like-minded individuals. Yeah, I can see how it’d be more fun than a high level professional job.

I'll have a shot : clear boundaries

So much this. With tech jobs I feel like I'm always on because of email and oncall.

With shift work, you have the luxury of turning your brain off work at the end of every shift.

Not just that, but even on breaks and during work there would be times where you can just turn off.

It could very well be age related, but I was never more relaxed than when I worked a retail-eqsue job. Even when on vacation.

No one worries that In and Out is eroding our democracy.

Here’s my shot: satisfaction of work performed and stress levels at the end of the day—even if considered relative to remuneration.

Another shot: at that time he / she was a college student. Totally different preferences and cretira now.