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> Worst case, you have to wear a cast for a while, while still going to work and earning a salary. It took me a while to parse that… then it struck me: right,

> Worst case, you have to wear a cast for a while, while still going to work and earning a salary. It took me a while to parse that… then it struck me: right, you don't naturally get paid leave of absence for illness or injury in the US. In Germany, the minimum by law is 6 weeks at 100% wage, and another 76 weeks at 70% wage (there are some special cases and whatnot, but they don't apply to poorer households.) Additionally, the first 6 weeks may be prolonged by your contract if you're working a job (usually industrial labour, e.g. car manufacturing) where the union has negotiated better terms. It's interesting to think about the situation in Europe: injuring yourself is not as much of an issue here, and few neigbourhoods are really that unsafe to walk or run in. Even if they are, public transport will quickly and reliably get you somewhere safe. Yet, I still think (I have no numbers) that running (and certainly cycling and swimming) is a sport for well-to-dos — definitely at least middle class. But the reverse isn't true: middle class folks don't necessarily do endurance sports. Tons of vocational workers (plumbers, electricians, woodworkers etc.) are comfortably middle class here, but they don't do endurance sports much. I think it has more to do with the physical labour aspect of your own job, and maybe also that of your colleagues. You may have an easy job, but if your peer group doesn't, endurance sports may still be frowned upon. Just a theory; I'd like to see comparative numbers between US and EU.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>It took me a while to parse that… then it struck me: right, you don't naturally get paid leave of absence for illness or injury in the US. In Germany, the minimum by law is 6 weeks at 100% wage, and another 76 weeks at 70% wage (there are some special cases and whatnot, but they don't apply to poorer households.) Additionally, the first 6 weeks may be prolonged by your contract if you're working a job (usually industrial labour, e.g. car manufacturing) where the union has negotiated better terms. Blue collar folk with money tend do have more dangerous hobbies than white collar workers. Motorsports, boxing/mma. When you crash a bike you're wearing a helmet. When someone fouls you in backetball you're not. Catastrophic injuries that leave you unable to do physical work while recovering are very rare in endurance sports until you get in to the more extreme end of the spectrum (e.g. a 5k that's basically an obstacle course in a mud bog) and even then they're somewhat rare. Why someone who works on their feet most of the time and regularly carries heavy things may not want to pound their knees into dust doing a couple marathons a year has nothing to do with healthcare. >You may have an easy job, but if your peer group doesn't, endurance sports may still be frowned upon. This seems to correlate with my unscientific observation but I don't think it's specifically "frowned upon".

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>It took me a while to parse that… then it struck me: right, you don't naturally get paid leave of absence for illness or injury in the US. In Germany, the minimum by law is 6 weeks at 100% wage, and another 76 weeks at 70% wage (there are some special cases and whatnot, but they don't apply to poorer households.) Additionally, the first 6 weeks may be prolonged by your contract if you're working a job (usually industrial labour, e.g. car manufacturing) where the union has negotiated better terms. Blue collar folk with money tend do have more dangerous hobbies than white collar workers. Motorsports, boxing/mma. When you crash a bike you're wearing a helmet. When someone fouls you in backetball you're not. Catastrophic injuries that leave you unable to do physical work while recovering are very rare in endurance sports until you get in to the more extreme end of the spectrum (e.g. a 5k that's basically an obstacle course in a mud bog) and even then they're somewhat rare. Why someone who works on their feet most of the time and regularly carries heavy things may not want to pound their knees into dust doing a couple marathons a year has nothing to do with healthcare. >You may have an easy job, but if your peer group doesn't, endurance sports may still be frowned upon. This seems to correlate with my unscientific observation but I don't think it's specifically "frowned upon".