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I also live in the Bay Area, surrounded by highly educated people, many ethnicities, mostly in tech, some in law, medicine, etc. I don't know a single person w

by hilux 3y ago

I also live in the Bay Area, surrounded by highly educated people, many ethnicities, mostly in tech, some in law, medicine, etc. I don't know a single person who has encouraged their kids to skip college and go into the trades. (Even when the kid has very little academic inclination, the parents pay for four years of private college.) It's great that you have ironworker friends, but from what I see, "working with your hands" is not what most educated white-collar people want for their kids.

mlhpdx 3y ago
> I don't know a single person who has encouraged their kids to skip college and go into the trades. Same-ish here. I have a brother in the trades (of seven siblings) and at least two cousins. But out of 23 nieces and nephews, zero AFAIK. But also, this is 100% the circles I’m in — I get that.
renewiltord 3y ago
Yeah, dude. For good reason. It’s a job with high physical risk. Everyone I know has had a workman’s comp issue or some injury or the other. Moto X champion is a high-prestige position and I still don’t want my kids to do it. That’s not stigma. That’s called being aware of the risks. When you’re off due to injury (like one of my friends who worked on T1 at SFO who hurt his back on the next job) it’s not great. And it takes a toll on you. That’s not stigma. That’s real. There’s no stigma. There’s just awareness of risk. The dream is that your kids make a steady income at something they can enjoy or at least tolerate while not risking their physical health.
- mlhpdx 3y ago
  > The dream is that your kids make a steady income at something they can enjoy or at least tolerate while not risking their physical health. Yep. The thing is, white collar (desk) jobs are bad for your health; physical and mental. I love my job but it comes at a price, too. If you’re looking for steady work plumbing is where it’s at. Are we at 5000 years of continuous demand, and where skills are transferable across decades (maybe centuries)?
  - renewiltord 3y ago
    I think people like to make all these claims but any blue collar worker would love a desk job. It’s easy and to stop paying the physical price you just stand up every hour and walk to the water cooler and then come back to a well-adjusted desk. Ironworking and carpentry are actually hard on one’s body. You only need one fuck-up. And that’s nothing like being a roughneck. These are not the RSI kind of injuries. These are the They Sent Me Home For a Year injuries.

by hilux 3y ago

mlhpdx 3y ago

> I don't know a single person who has encouraged their kids to skip college and go into the trades. Same-ish here. I have a brother in the trades (of seven siblings) and at least two cousins. But out of 23 nieces and nephews, zero AFAIK. But also, this is 100% the circles I’m in — I get that.

renewiltord 3y ago

Yeah, dude. For good reason. It’s a job with high physical risk. Everyone I know has had a workman’s comp issue or some injury or the other. Moto X champion is a high-prestige position and I still don’t want my kids to do it. That’s not stigma. That’s called being aware of the risks. When you’re off due to injury (like one of my friends who worked on T1 at SFO who hurt his back on the next job) it’s not great. And it takes a toll on you. That’s not stigma. That’s real. There’s no stigma. There’s just awareness of risk. The dream is that your kids make a steady income at something they can enjoy or at least tolerate while not risking their physical health.

mlhpdx 3y ago
> The dream is that your kids make a steady income at something they can enjoy or at least tolerate while not risking their physical health. Yep. The thing is, white collar (desk) jobs are bad for your health; physical and mental. I love my job but it comes at a price, too. If you’re looking for steady work plumbing is where it’s at. Are we at 5000 years of continuous demand, and where skills are transferable across decades (maybe centuries)?
- renewiltord 3y ago
  I think people like to make all these claims but any blue collar worker would love a desk job. It’s easy and to stop paying the physical price you just stand up every hour and walk to the water cooler and then come back to a well-adjusted desk. Ironworking and carpentry are actually hard on one’s body. You only need one fuck-up. And that’s nothing like being a roughneck. These are not the RSI kind of injuries. These are the They Sent Me Home For a Year injuries.