Teaching high school math is, all considered, a pretty good job. I'm not saying that anyone deserves their ideal job, or the "right" job for their IQ level (which for a 140+ would probably be research). I'm saying that something is seriously wrong if people who are smart enough to get advanced degrees are cleaning hotel rooms. Either society is failing, or too many people are getting advanced degrees (obviously, both are true).
I'm really curious why you consider research to teaching to be an acceptable step down, but editing documents to manual labor is not an acceptable step down.
Is it simply because teaching (like research) is still done by white NYT reading liberals, whereas manual labor can be done by religious mexicans who like to watch cockfights?
Teaching is about as creative as waitressing. You learn to play games and make people like you in the hopes that they will reward you after your service is complete (tips, student evaluations).
As for salary, teaching at university pays less than many lower skilled jobs (e.g., waitress at high end restaurant, plumber, MTA worker).
