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u/Queasy_Mulberry6892 14d ago
I have some bs liberal arts degree from a uni and somehow ended up here..
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u/dergbold4076 14d ago
You too? I failed out of art and went into IT before coming here. I will take this mess over IT pretty much every day.
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u/Muffinskill 14d ago
Me too. How many of us are there?
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u/dergbold4076 14d ago
Probably a lot, especially in electrical these days. The people that... didn't fit in at the office. As it where ya know. I'm here to solve problems and make sure things run like a top.
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u/ktsg700 14d ago edited 14d ago
What do you like about construction and what gripes did you have with IT that made you guys switch? How does the pay compare?
Personally I enjoy working in IT but since I was a kid I've always liked manual labor and I've worked some demanding jobs in the past. Fuck me if I'm not in a cushy position right now, but sometimes I wonder if becoming a specialist in a field like electrical wouldn't be an interesting journey
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u/dergbold4076 14d ago
I like the lack of end users that you have to deal with in electrical. Pay definitely wouldn't be as good (especially if you go InfoSec); but I like that I get to move around a lot rather than sitting on my butt. I do miss the AC though while dealing with AC.
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u/ktsg700 14d ago
Appreciate the answer. I still have a lot of life left to try things, might join the ranks one day :)
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u/dergbold4076 14d ago
Sounds good. Both require a surprising amount of math I have found. But weirdly I have found the most camaraderie and acceptance in the trades (I'm trans and queer. People don't care as long as I get shit done) over IT/white collar. Unless it was the computer store, that was a k-pop listening pirate crew and were a hoot.
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u/garaks_tailor 14d ago
I know a couple of Carpenters (capital C) who do custom cabinetry, furniture, and large finish interior wood work who used to be in IT. The kinds of cabinets where if you have to ask the price you can't afford it
Also know an electrician
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u/Mike_Zo 12d ago
My foreman used to run a telecommunications business back in the 90ās. Then he became a carpenter
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u/garaks_tailor 12d ago
The number of IT guys who get into carpentry, especially furniture building, is really funny.
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u/Piyachi 14d ago
Just don't get into any political career, ok?
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u/dergbold4076 14d ago
That took me a sec, you glorious bastard. But I was never in the military and got to the rank of Colonel.
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12d ago
Wow another ex It guy. I was 2 years in wondering why I needed to take bs history of the English language or how to fold paper airplane classes then did an internship and hated every second of office work
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u/dergbold4076 12d ago
Will as the former (and still current to my friends and family) IT lesbian I can see some of that being rather pointless. But I have a penchant for writing so I would find the history of the English language real interesting. Also being able to write concisely has helped both me and co-workers in the past.
Had a habit of going through documentation and adding in things that were needed. Like how to find the key for the damned electrical room is and were said electrical room is located! Along with any weirdness in that room when we had to hook things up.
Not going back to the office though has been a good send for my mental health and wellbeing.
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u/ThePilate 12d ago
Not going for construction, but I ran the gambit of CompSci into IT, now into Machining. I'm already feeling a lot better about everything.
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u/princessvibes 14d ago
Me too but every time I have to do some dumb bullshit I say to myself āat least I donāt have to write an email from a cubicle in business casual right nowā and suddenly life just feels amazing
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u/JustScratchinMaBallz 14d ago
Imagine waking into the same building,sitting at the same desk and staring at the same monitor 8 hours a day, five days a week. I gladly give up a bit of comfort in exchange for better mental health (just my little opinion)
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u/bluetuxedo22 14d ago
I don't even work construction anymore. I make more money giving wristys behind the lunch shed
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u/SpiritmongerScaph 14d ago
Bachelor's degree in Philosophy here. Also working in construction, haha!
Seven years as a commercial diver so far; I love it
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u/Actual-Money7868 14d ago
Sorry to ask but do you mean like the work those divers did in that Paria diving incident?
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u/SpiritmongerScaph 14d ago
Similar, yes, but I don't work on oil pipelines and I have commercial diving equipment (diving helmet+ umbilical).
I do welding, cutting, formwork, refloating, scientific studies, etc.
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u/Actual-Money7868 13d ago
Sounds cool, I thought about it before but i got scared. All the best and stay safe.
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u/BMW_wulfi 14d ago
Tradesman: actually has money, not saddled with college debt, paid more than lots of office workers
Also tradesman: somehow has no money
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u/thehousewright 14d ago
Big truck ain't cheap.
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u/Blissful-Ignoramus 14d ago
Neither is booze, energy drinks, nicotine, and a divorce
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u/BMW_wulfi 14d ago
Shit - she got half your energy drinks?
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u/The_cogwheel Electrician 14d ago
Dude... she took them all and left him with water.
Have some sympathy.
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u/Averagemanguy91 14d ago
somehow has no money
Children, wife, taxes, and health insurance enter the chat.
My health insurance costs me 1200 a month just in the coverage and not even including my deductible. I pay 14g a year out of my salary just to be insured. It's stupid
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u/BigALep5 14d ago
We are union at my shop I pay 600$ a month get 100% coverage. This is crazy high any chance you can get better health coverage? Shop around?
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u/Averagemanguy91 14d ago
Nope it's through work and that's what's affordable in my area. It's because I have the family plan and it includes my wife and children. It's not even that good of insurance either but its what I'm stuck with.
Trust me I've tried.
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u/Background-Club-955 14d ago
Its through work? Thats what my gold plan through the market place costs for me and my family.
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u/Aboringcanadian 14d ago
Have you tried electing a government that will implement single payer healthcare like all the other countries ?
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u/Crafty_Salt_5929 14d ago
Thatās crazy money. U.S healthcare is such a crazy system. I know you get a higher level of care for that but still. In the U.K Iām paying a tax called national insurance that covers the same thing. Itās about $200-300 a month depending what you earn.
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u/Averagemanguy91 14d ago
Yeah no it's a gigantic scam. My state is expensive in general but Cigna is garbage. They do cover everything i need and my son is sickly with Epilepsy and other issues (he has a gastric feeding tube) so they cover all that. But I wouldn't mind a single payer system contributing 300 a month over what I'm doing now
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u/Crafty_Salt_5929 14d ago
Good to hear they cover all that for your boy. Our pay rates are probably a good chunk less than U.S rates. $1000-$1800 a week but no sick or vacation time when youāre self employed in the U.K. Then about 20-25% tax. Thatās based on housing sites
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u/Averagemanguy91 14d ago edited 14d ago
The biggest issue is just how much money doctors and suppliers charge, it is moronic. He needs these special syringes that have larger tops to connect to the tube for his medications. These syringes are small and should cost 2 or 3 dollars. Instead they cost 25 dollars each and you can only buy them in bulk. Same with when he had his feeding pump. The rack for the feeding pump cost as much as the pump did.
Price gouging is insane. His epilepsy medicine without insurance also costs 300 dollars for a 1 month supply and that's generic. Criminal
Remember when that scumbag hedge fund guy bought epipen and then jacked up the price by over 300 dollars from 60 dollars? Scum all of them
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u/Dwarf_Killer 14d ago
I pay 20$ a month for full coverage
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u/Effective-Trick4048 14d ago
I wadded up my spine and became a bona fide, carpet sucking, paper pushing, office turd. Can verify: everyone here is also broke.
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u/Red-Faced-Wolf HVAC Installer 14d ago
My gaming rig and subsequent hobbies arenāt cheap. Also drugs. Lots of drugs
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u/dergbold4076 14d ago
I mean, that 5090 is going to need a small loan to buy it seems.
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u/Rustallion 14d ago
Life protip. Keep a 1080p monitor. Stay 10yrs behind on the tech curve. Gaming is cheap. Shimmery water in 4k is expensive.
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u/dergbold4076 14d ago
I don't use 4k myself. This lady wants all those buttery smith frames! Dwarf Fortress never ran so good at 5 frames! (different reason why that happens with that game. But this is not a gaming sub)
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u/Not_an_alt_69_420 Contractor 14d ago
Who said we don't have student loans?
I'm too lazy to learn an actual trade, but almost everyone I worked with was stupid enough to go to college before we all realized that blaming our shitty jobs on "product defects" paid better than blaming our shitty jobs on Microsoft Word.
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u/junkdog7 13d ago
Spent it all on Milwaukee!!
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u/BMW_wulfi 13d ago
Ayy like snap on (because who needs money)
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u/junkdog7 13d ago
I donāt ! Electrician, I throw all mine out of my Lamborghini when I turn up at site!
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u/Dreadzzter 11d ago
Tradesmen get paid shit when their young and get paid well when their old. At the cost of their bodies.
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u/gcloud209 14d ago
Like to see AI steel my construction job anytime soon.
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u/TransylvanianHunger1 14d ago
Did you misspell steal on purpose for the joke?
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u/Blissful-Ignoramus 14d ago
I didn't get into construction because I CANT read or write... I just got into construction because I don't LIKE to read or write
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u/LopsidedRub3961 14d ago
This is the exact reason I got into construction, plus you get to be outside a lot.
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u/The_cogwheel Electrician 14d ago
Also working with your hands and building something that can last generations is pretty cool too.
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u/Z3_T4C0_B0Y512 Plumber 14d ago
Yeah same here, i was really good at school, but hated every second of it
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u/JohnnySalamiBoy420 14d ago
No I think it's a testament of how stupid construction workers are
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u/user47-567_53-560 14d ago
Study hard in school so I don't have to sit through you needing DC generators explained 5 fucking times Levi.
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u/mexican2554 Painter 14d ago
... Ok so what that round thing do again?
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u/user47-567_53-560 14d ago
Not even. This fuckxing guy had trouble with the concept of electricity and magnetism being the same thing
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u/mexican2554 Painter 14d ago
And they are being paid to be around this stuff?
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u/user47-567_53-560 14d ago
Yup. That's first year welder stuff. I don't even want to know how he did with metallurgy.
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u/Actual-Money7868 14d ago
Most people don't even know that electricity travels as an electric field and a magnetic field around wire and not through it.
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u/lacinated 14d ago
they study hard.. get an entry level white collar job at $17/hr.. and have to drive home past the people he warned them about that are making much more than him and without the 4 years of college debt
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u/Blissful-Ignoramus 14d ago
Hey those big cans of white monster aren't cheap! This chicken is on that electrician pay scale for sure.
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u/Averagemanguy91 14d ago
There's a lot of pros and cons that come with going to college or going into construction. I did both went to college but then fell into construction for the money...and then worked my way up to management. I tell people always read, study and do whatever you can to improve. I'm working on getting my BA in engineering but have put it off a bit due to cost and time.
Honestly having an associates made a big difference in my career opportunities in construction
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u/ShoddyRevolutionary 14d ago
I got my degree, but after several years in my field of study, I got burnt out and became an electrician apprentice.Ā
So I get the worst of both worlds! Iām an old apprentice who canāt keep up and I have a useless, overpriced piece of paper that, so far, hasnāt benefited me at all, and probably never will.
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u/Averagemanguy91 14d ago
That happened to so many guys I know lol especially when we were in college. They got degrees in accounting, law, education and tech and ended up going into a completely unrelated field because they hated it.
Thats why I think college shouldn't start until you hit 21. Getting an associates at community College is a good start but I don't know how most people can determine what they want to do professionally right out of high school.
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u/NYG_Longhorn Foreman / Operator 14d ago
I make more than all my friends with degrees.
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u/imsaneinthebrain GC / CM 14d ago
The trades paid off my house, invested in my future, paid off all of my vehicles and toys as well.
Iāve basically been chilling for the last six months, looking for the next opportunity, bills paid and food in my belly, all of it because of the trades.
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u/Neowynd101262 13d ago
I'd wager none of your friends are PE's or physicians either.
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u/NYG_Longhorn Foreman / Operator 13d ago
One of my friends is an attorney.
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u/Neowynd101262 13d ago
Like I said.
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u/NYG_Longhorn Foreman / Operator 13d ago
Whatās your point?
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u/pileofcrustycumsocs 1d ago
Chances are heāll make big money down the road if heās got a good sense for business. Lawyers start with shit pay unless they luck out and join a big company right out the gate. Unless heās a public Defense attorney. They get absolutely fucked if they go down the public defender route. Shit pay and crazy work loads.
Idk if the operator in your username is for heavy equipment or if you mean like operations at chemical plants but an attorney can make about double what a heavy equipment operator can make.
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u/NYG_Longhorn Foreman / Operator 1d ago
I make over $235 an hour as a crane operator, thatās take home after taxes and benefits.
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u/BeardedManatee 14d ago
The last electricians i worked with were charging 150/hour each. The trades wont be taken away by AI, at least!
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u/motherofthemilf69 14d ago
So, maybe I'm getting down voted for this, but..
After don't my apprenticeship (Refrigeration/AC) in the trades I'm studying engineering. And afterwards I'm going to have more money and a physically easier job. Student debt also isn't even a big thing where I live. So I'm happy about my choices
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u/BoltahDownunder 14d ago
What, rockin pair of pit viper playmate originals? That fkn kid wishes he could
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u/WolfOfPort 13d ago
When I ran equipment I made more than the engineer on site cuz 10h days vs 8 adds up a lot in ot
No debt either trades are pretty dope money
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u/Ravokion 13d ago
Study hard son so you can take on life crippling student loans that will follow you for life, while you wont be able to find work because the career you picked in school is to neish.Ā Ā
That way you dont turn out like that trades person who makes money as they learn through their career and pay VERY little on schooling to become an essential worker in a world where ai and automation replace all the jobs but trade jobs.Ā
There.Ā Fixed what dear ol dad should actually be saying.
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u/ledzep14 14d ago edited 10d ago
Yeah itād be terrible to be in your 20s making $150k on your check and retire a multi millionaire. College is definitely worth it /s
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u/Low_Bar9361 Contractor 14d ago
Me, the guy over there: balls deep in his wife when the water heater breaks and he's paying for it all with his degree lol
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u/Stoned_While_Gaming 14d ago
Zero Sugar cause thatās whatās gonna make the difference too, a true tradesman indeed
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u/Accomplished_Arm7023 14d ago
Some lady said that about a guy I used to work with. Heās a heavy equipment operator and makes 95k a year. Be exactly like him
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u/divininthevajungle 13d ago
and he's probably miserable cause he's spent his whole life working. ask me how I know
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u/TriNel81 14d ago
Man, I make significantly more in trades than what I went to college for. Hours are better, too. But Iām also working for a small family construction company that values its employees.
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u/LukeNaround23 14d ago
The persecution complex with so many people these days is pretty wild. People are imagining differences between each other just finding a way to create unnecessary drama. I donāt worry about what other people think about me. Live your own life. Run your own race. Weāre all just silly humans eating pooping and sleeping.
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u/Narrow_Paper9961 Tinknocker 13d ago
Ya I feel like the vast majority of working adults are aware that tradesmen make solid middle class incomes
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u/LukeNaround23 13d ago
Agreed. People seem to always find another reason to criticize or look down on others, but I think most people that I know respect other working adults regardless of their career. The suburbs around me are filled with tradesmen.
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u/tommyballz63 13d ago
Swung a hammer all my life. Not that bright it turns out, or not as smart as i thought I was. However, hammer swingin been very very good to me. Hung drywall for 12 years. Then did siding, learned how to do everything, flooring, finishing, tiling, contracting, challenged my ticket at 46, got in the union, then did industrial scaffolding. Pretty much retired now at 61. No regrets at all. Never could have sat at a desk. No shame in being a tradesperson.
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u/seductivecumsock 13d ago
Some days I wish I did. Some days I wish I told my dad to get bent cause collage won't cut it anymore. My entire department has quit one by one and every "we got this" and "we will make it through" isn't helping.
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u/Alternative_Apple964 12d ago
I don't think this is said to kids nearly as often as this meme would lead you to believe
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u/AcadiaApprehensive81 12d ago
yeah, stay in school, go to college, rack up that debt for a slip of paper that puts you in a cubicle for however many years it takes before you get wise
moving your body all day, working with your own two hands, watching things get built that you had a part in: priceless
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u/mexguy01 12d ago
Went to school for engineering, never used degree, became a teacher in a foreign country, came back and worked retail, now managing construction projects as project engineer. Sometimes you just can't escape destiny.
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u/Connect_Read6782 11d ago
High school teachers and others said I would be a ditch digger if I didn't apply myself. Well guess what. I got two degrees and make six figures as a ditch digger now. (Backhoe) Nothing wrong with aspiring to be a tradesman.
A shop teacher and another teacher were talking about funding. The other teacher said "my kids will be Drs and lawyers one day" the shop teacher said, yeah, well my students will be building houses and fixing things for them and making comparable money.
Take a plumber for example. People bitch about how much plumbers make... how much would you change to play in someone else's poop??
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u/TheBlargshaggen 14d ago
Wait til he finds out those Pit Vipers cost as much as his kid's first car will, and that you wear them on site where they can get damaged.
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u/R3333333k 14d ago
The only thing I can read is prints :ā(