Argh money, we all need it...... but damn dont you wish it grew on trees. Now as a low income earner, i know the meaning of a hard days work, i myself have been working since the tender age of 9. it all started with cattle work on a farm in the sweet, clean, fresh air of the country. As i grew older i worked my way through the fruit packing sheds every weekend and every school hollidays. then i quit school to work full time, everything is always work work work...and for what? pennies. yeah i know i could go get a degree, or a traineeship or whatever else. but thats not the life for me, i like to do hard work. the only thing i hate is when the upperclass look down on the lowerclass, as if we are merely doormats. But hey, we have lives too, were out wearing down our bodies to provide for our families while you push your pen around and drink coffee while struggling and stressing about that extra hard game of solitare u have going. well i know that sounds harsh but to hell with it, im tired of bein looked down apon, a job is a job, i could be sitting at home on the dole if i wanted to , but no, im out wirking, so i can pay for other people to sit at home on the dole!!hahahahahah anyway i guess im trying to say that us low income earners deserve some respect too. PL
Ok sure. So why did you post this big long rant about it? I mean dude, there was no need to do that, you say sure you CAN get a degree/apprenticeship but that it's not for you, well that's fair enough but your wasting potential there. Plus the world is full of snobs.
Sorry, Frost - I disagree. Poetryliberates is right. At least in America, the school system and much of the government works to tell children that they won't be successful unless they go to college, get a vocational education degree, or whatnot. Then the gov't mandates credentials - Journeymen Carpenters, Teacher Credentials even though the teacher already went through 4 years of college at MIT and got an award for Best Teacher in Western America (they still won't let him teach Calculus BC, because they violate RULE #1 of the Universe), Nosepicker Extraordinaire. It's official: everyone has to be at least average in America by 2012. I kid you not. The education system has gone barking mad. And poetryliberates is also right in saying that the "upper class" looks down on so-called "menial workers." If you do anything useful that involves actually making something, then they look down on you. Carpenters, mechanics, plumbers, electricians - I know a lot of people who would tear their hair out if their children went into the construction or plumbing industries. Worse, because we have so many low-low-low-wage workers here (hablan espanol, Uds.?), some very useful jobs, like that of a fieldhand, get pennies for wages. Yeah. America says it ain't racist. Then it sets itself up to the point where no "smart" white kid is supposed to be a plumber, join the military, work in construction, or be "satisfied" with "just" a high school diploma. So say the white Democrats. (My own bias. 'Cept it's true. Senator Kerry's comment . . . ) ** Truth in advertising: I'm white. My cousin wants to go into the military; his extremely liberal ENTIRE EXTENDED FAMILY all jumped on him at once. Apparently only failures go into the military. Since both my cousin and myself are supposed to be unusually clever, this grates . . . as I, too, have considered a military career. **
In Australia it's quite the opposite. People look up to plumbers, mechanics, electricians, builders and the like - they make more money than those with degree's, usually. There's a shortage.
As one of the menial masses I think poetryliberates is right. I was a high school drop out and ended up a truck driver, before that I worked in a plastic cup factory, and before that an assembly line making trucks. I love my parents but when their friends were bragging about "Little Johnny" being a doctor or a lawyer I don't think I came up to often. Don't get me wrong I like my life, but there is a clear divide between me and my coworkers and the $100,000 a year crowd. And trust me, it's not brains because there are PLENTY of rich stupid people in Las Vegas.
There are jerks at every economic level, just as there are decent folks at every economic level. Unfortunately, in addition to economic level, every race, religion, career path, community, etc. has its share of jerks. True, people are people, whether welder, professor, waiter, tour guide, soldier, or software designer, and each deserves respect until they do something to demonstrate otherwise. But, everyone makes choices that leads them down one career path or another. Sometimes circumstances, such as illness, injury or other hardship impact the course. In my experience, expending energy worrying about what a snob, for example, thinks of me or my family is wasted energy. Focusing on what is important to you and those you care about is where it's at. Terry
