college or trade

[cookderosa]

It is a given skilled tradesmen can make a good living. The
downside is often unsafe work environments, boom bust
cycles, unexpected costs, chasing down people who owe
and purchasing equipment that can be very costly. Having
worked in the trades as a helper the most difficult thing was
working with very difficult people.
I'm of the opinion that getting a Bachelors and even a Masters
is a wiser investment. At least it is respected. Even more so
if you have some applied sciences in your degree. I'm past the age
of apprenticing. I like technical subjects. As I said the most
difficult thing was working with pushy people. I worked as a
volunteer at Habit For Humanity. The work environment was
nice. People worked as a team. In paid trades work I ran into a
lot of bullies and tyrants.
Can anyone share their experiences and opinions. This is just my
experience.

I'm volunteer at the Good Samaritan Free Clinic, best volunteer job ever. Take a bunch of people who are altruistic and bring them together, it's one giant love fest. I'm not being sarcastic, I look forward to it!

I think the differences between blue collar and white collar, in my observation, centers around the perception of "work." I've noticed this EXTENSIVELY in almost every work situation I've been involved in. Blue collar workers (trades) measure worth based on what you DO. Physically seeing you "work" and "do" things. So, to a blue collar worker, management doesn't do squat and they don't know squat. A white collar worker, OTOH, uses their brain in decision making/strategy/managing/etc. So, a white collar worker's work is happening up top. They can view the blue collar workers as not sophisticated enough to make "decisions" and are just laborers. Of course you need both, that's obvious, but the attitude you talk of is when you get people who don't understand that both skills are needed to be successful.

So, you have to ask yourself if you are happier as a "hand-on-doer" or as a "hands-off-thinker" and you'll have your answer!