I've done various manual labor (both skilled and unskilled). I would 100% go back into plumbing if the U.S. had a social safety net. Have a fulfilling job wher

I've done various manual labor (both skilled and unskilled). I would 100% go back into plumbing if the U.S. had a social safety net. Have a fulfilling job where you get to see the product of all your hard work at the end of the day? Check. Ability to turn your mind off after work and actually sleep well? Check. Fresh air, sun, exercise, and real camaraderie with your colleagues? Check. No bullshit job manager to micro-manage, gaslight, and make my life hell? Check. Stress? I have never once felt stressed on a job site. I've gotten pissed off at dumbasses who've given me injuries, but it's not chronic, low-grade anxiety that permeates into my entire life like software engineering. Main problem is the healthcare isn't guaranteed. So if I fuck up my body, my career is over, and so is my access to medicine (and so is my ability to have a roof over my head!). Have fun with your 4 week wait-times (just for a consult) and "large jobs" only for any sort of tradesman! The problem is only going to get worse. No one with good foresight goes into the trades unless their family owns a business and is trying to hand it off to them -- or their family is in a union and are guaranteeing them a spot (don't do non-union). Ironically, the people usually going on about how "tough" certain jobs are have never done them for any extended period of time. It tends to give you a certain humility, that at the end of the day we're all just trying to stay alive, and no better than another. Shocking how shedding sweat with a recovered meth addict just out of jail will give you some empathy for your fellow man; while working in an alienating and cut-throat environment will turn you into a psychopath just to survive.