there is a reason that everything in our country is falling apart. all of the so called "lower class/education" jobs such as welding, carpentry, body work, etc. are being treated like second class jobs. they dont make the kind of money that they should, considering the craftsmanship and knowledge needed to do the jobs with any kind of quality. also, a great deal of young people, (people my age) never had to work for anything, therefore they dont have any desire to create something. they want jobs that keep them in the AC all day, behind a desk where they dont have to sweat. most of my classmates from high school still live at home and work in the mall, or they are still in college deciding what to switch their major to this year, because as long as mom, dad, and the government will keep forking over money for them to skip class and party, they will keep doing it. it just makes me sad to see that america's youth has no desire to offer any kind of product. but i can understand why they don't. i had a job i loved working as a mechanic at a harley dealership, but, because of the money, i had to take a job running a forklift in a warehouse for the school district. consequently, i get up a 430 a.m. and work the most boring job i've ever had, and get no satisfaction out of what i do. the world is changing, and i don't like where its heading! sorry for being so long-winded on this topic, but i'm slightly disgusted by my age demographic's choices!
What is totally black and has a white penis? A Polish coal miner that went home for lunch! I can't count how many egg sandwiches I ate off the coffee truck that had my black thumb print on them. Bob
Wow, Great VIDEO! I grew up and went to schools with the only working with our hands was art, and some 80's computer tech. My Grandfather worked with his hands for money and for hobby, same with my father. Lucky for me all of this was passed on to me. Growing up going on jobs with them, and always tinkering on something. Hard for me not to get new stuff and take it apart. But I see alot of my friends depending on others, sometimes even to hang a picture. Blows me away.
Started working on cars and motorcycles when I was 13. Graduated SUNY at Morrisville in 73 and started working in a machine shop. Went on to work in a tire store, two Buick and 1 chevrolet dealer. Then became a race car builder, crew chief, and photographer. Worked on street stocks, dirt modifieds, late models, sprints and an Indy car. Then started my own business of investigating vehicle fires and mechanical failures for insurance companies. On the side I restore cars and build hot rods. Present project is an O/T "teardrop" trailer. Hands on!!!!!
In today's world - just college often isn't enough! I know many who went to school and have blue collar jobs, no joke - myself included. Those days of walking out with some degree and making big bucks is rare, unless you're in a specialized field like electrical or mechanical engineering, chemistry, etc. The biggest problem is that most hands-on jobs don't pay squat, even worse are those who who to technical schools like Wyotech, spend huge money on tools and an education, and walk onto a job making $8/hr. Many get frustrated and look elsewhere for work. I have been a manager at several dealerships - they won't let us pay good enough to find good technicians. Even though one should be paid based on experience - It's hard to live on crap pay, especially when you can go to a gas station and make more as a cashier.
I don't get a lot of opportunity to work with my hands. I like to think that the drawings I do on the drawing board are works of craftsmanship, but by qualification I deal in abstract concepts. My abstract concepts have taken quite a long road since my university days, but they've ended up giving me the utmost respect for people who work with their hands. It is not only skilled labour that is endangered but, far more importantly, the skilled worker who owns his own tools and ideally his own premises. This is neither accidental nor inevitable: one could write a history of the use of product design for eliminating the need for skilled labour - both as a cost factor and a political factor. The reasons for Model T firewalls going from wood to fabricated sheetmetal to pressed steel are more complex than they seem. And then there is the philosophical-spiritual aspect of exercising freedom by giving physical shape to something that is not yourself. Nowadays we think that this belongs to the fine artist: it ought to belong pretty much to everyone. (Someone said that creativity flourishes under repressive regimes, but this is only because they understand creativity primarily in terms of fine art. One could more accurately say that tyranny breeds poetry while freedom breeds pottery. Nobody can do pottery properly under tyranny, so people do poetry instead - basically about how awful it is not to be able to do decent pottery. Perhaps that's a good definition of tyranny. Point is, we need to recognize that pottery is valid creativity, even if it is everyday regular pottery. One can have a seriously poetic life, but I'll bet there is still more pottery in it - all the better if it can be poetic pottery.)
My respect for Mr. Rowe has just gone up!! I graduated from the auto body repair and refinishing course at NDSCS in Whapeton ND in 1977. Not only did I learn paint and body, but welding, electronics, air conditioning, upholstery, alignment, as well as some general classes. I have worn both collars; body and paint man, radio announcer, supervisor, warehouse worker, supervisor, and now food plant worker. I wish I had stayed in the P&B field, as I am happiest when I'm banging on a fender or laying down some candy! I built my own home, I can wire, plumb, and fix almost anything, given enough time and thought. When I go to Home Depot or O'Rielly's, I usually know as much or more about what I need than the people trying to help me! The HS I graduated from no longer has any viable trade classes, and a lot of kids my sons age (17), couldn't change a tire if they had to, including my son! I want him to have a good life, work at a profession that not only is financially sound, but one that he is happy with, but I wish I could get through to him the importance of self-reliance, being able to get dirty and even if you can't fix something, to know enough about it to understand what needs to be done! We have become such a disposable society!
It's a sad state of affairs in our country right now. I spent $8,000 going to school to become and Automotive Technician because "There is a shortage and technicians are in demand." (BULLSHIT!). I can't find a job as a technician or mechanic anywhere in a 50 mile radius and I have previous shop experience on top of the training. I finally gave up for a while about 2 years ago and accepted a low paying part time job just to pay the bills. What is driving this trend you might ask? The swing towards everything being throw away in our countries, the BS Cash For Clunkers scheme that the government hashed out hurt the auto repair industry in a big way. The swing towards everything being computer controlled and requiring very little mechanical knowledge to diagnose and repair is not helping either. The big one is the fact that they expect the people who work with their hands to work for cheap while people that sit on their ass for the majority of the day get rich. This is thanks in part to illegals and not having stiff enough penalties for being an alien in our country, allowing employers to find someone who is willing to work for cheap. End rant, I'll get off my high horse now.
Reminded me of fixin crappers with dad - always try and know what your paying for so you appreciate it. He was blue collar trapped in a white collar His parents sold his 1919 T in 49/50 while he was in the Navy "no grease monkey" in a professors family That made him always allow any project at his house !
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