There always seems to be some romanticism of blue collar work from white collar, and vice versa. There is a thread of truth to the things each side says, but there is also a reality that is ignored.
I'm from a blue collar family in a blue collar area and have known people from various blue collar professions. Risk and physical atrophy is very real for blue collar workers. In most trades you will work with equipment that can kill, injure and maim you. Even if you avoid the equipment (and your co-workers using the equipment in your vicinity), the physical toll of daily blue collar work is going to impact your body. Most blue collar workers I know have significant physical ailments which start in their 40's or 50's. Bad knees making it difficult to walk. Bad back making your life difficult in all kinds of ways. If you're lucky, you only end up with arthritic hands, making them useless and painful in old age.
White collar work is filled with its own issues like sedentary lifestyle, sitting all day, eye strain, etc. But there is almost a zero percent chance if you getting killed or maimed by your equipment.
You could definitely take pride in operating and maintaining large expensive machines, but you also face the reality of those machines removing your fingers, limbs, or taking your life. In blue collar work there is big heavy equipment, fumes/gas, extreme heat/cold, etc.
I spent my teens and early 20's doing blue collar work (had no plans to go to college), until watching the people around me struggle physically in their 30's made me re-think that decision. Even in the limited time I spent in the trades, I still have lasting scars and injuries from things that happened to me. My scars from white collar work have only been emotional ones. I'm not belittling that, just pointing out that the grass isn't greener.
I'm from a blue collar family in a blue collar area and have known people from various blue collar professions. Risk and physical atrophy is very real for blue collar workers. In most trades you will work with equipment that can kill, injure and maim you. Even if you avoid the equipment (and your co-workers using the equipment in your vicinity), the physical toll of daily blue collar work is going to impact your body. Most blue collar workers I know have significant physical ailments which start in their 40's or 50's. Bad knees making it difficult to walk. Bad back making your life difficult in all kinds of ways. If you're lucky, you only end up with arthritic hands, making them useless and painful in old age.
White collar work is filled with its own issues like sedentary lifestyle, sitting all day, eye strain, etc. But there is almost a zero percent chance if you getting killed or maimed by your equipment.
You could definitely take pride in operating and maintaining large expensive machines, but you also face the reality of those machines removing your fingers, limbs, or taking your life. In blue collar work there is big heavy equipment, fumes/gas, extreme heat/cold, etc.
I spent my teens and early 20's doing blue collar work (had no plans to go to college), until watching the people around me struggle physically in their 30's made me re-think that decision. Even in the limited time I spent in the trades, I still have lasting scars and injuries from things that happened to me. My scars from white collar work have only been emotional ones. I'm not belittling that, just pointing out that the grass isn't greener.