> In high school, he wanted to be an aviation mechanic, a big step up from lumberjack for a kid that likes rockets. His geomoetry teacher recognized the under-m

> In high school, he wanted to be an aviation mechanic, a big step up from lumberjack for a kid that likes rockets. His geomoetry teacher recognized the under-matching, and asked him: ‘Do you want to be the guy who fixes the plane or the guy who designs the plane?’ Good for them, maybe, but ... I also hate this. It's set up to make it sound like being a mechanic is somehow inferior to being a design engineer. Your plane won't fly without plenty of both people. Having worked both kinds of jobs, I much prefer fixing to designing. And I'm the last person you would have expected to say this, back in high school! I never even considered this type of work before I was 35. Alternative phrasing: "Do you want to deal with office politics for the rest of your life, or hit things with a hammer?"