The "smarter" you are, the faster you leave this industry (if you can help it). Unfortunately the massive usage of drugs (alcohol, minimum) to cope with a faili

The "smarter" you are, the faster you leave this industry (if you can help it). Unfortunately the massive usage of drugs (alcohol, minimum) to cope with a failing body from decades of not-being-given-a-hoot-about... tends to dull any potential brain development. Around the time most subs begin "realizing their value [wage]," is when the next-lowest bidder becomes king. I'm stereotyping my own kind, and once thought of myself as "a fairly intelligent person" — but my occupational history would prove otherwise. I absolutely loved the freedom of running my own shop (typically just myself, one-man one-van) — but after standing up for a few undeserving GC's, one of them sat me down and explained that "he has insurance for a reason, and necessarily must continue using sub-qualified labor to remain competitive [insurance covers his good name, he says]".