The thing about parables is that they are "big picture" examples. What I mean is, you can't get too caught up in the details. It's about the forest and not the trees so much. I think that's why I like them so much. I'm not always good with details, I'm more of a big picture kinda guy.
Jesus has spent the last little while trying to explain something that's really big, and distill it into morsels that we can digest. Little children will inherit the kingdom. It is hard for a rich man to enter. Etc. Now, He is telling a story about these workers in the vineyard. The big picture idea that I take away from this is...
Well, let me think about that for a second. The last workers only worked a short time and got a whole day's wage. Lucky them. If anything, they should have been paid a smaller amount, but the owner did what He did, and that's fine. The first workers figured they should get more. Why? Because compared to those other guys, they did way more work. But therein lies the problem. The owner isn't comparing anyone to anyone else. He is simply rewarding people as He sees fit. It could be that He figured that anyone who comes and works in His field should get the same wage, based not on the amount of work, but that they are there working the first place. No comparisons needed. You work here, then you get paid.
We are the ones who are worried about how we compare to others. Who's richer, prettier, smarter, better. A child I know kept asking my daughter to do increasingly difficult things until she found something that she could do that my daughter could not. Then, she triumphantly exclaimed, "I'm better than you because I can do that and you can't". What? No, you're not. But perhaps that is something like how silly it is for God to watch us squabble over who is better, who has accomplished more, etc., etc.
In the end, we are not workers, we are children. And the father has a place even for the prodigal (much to the chagrin of the other kids).
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