I’m at the library today as it gets me out of the house and gets me some truly undisturbed space in which to work. As I was walking here from the bus, I saw a “We’re Hiring” sign on a nearby construction project. The plumbing company working on the project wants an experienced plumbing apprentice. My first thought was how do you get experience if no one will give you a job?
Then I realized there was a bigger question. How many people
want that type of work anymore? It’s honest work and from what I’ve heard, once
you get through an apprenticeship, you can make good money. As good as or
possibly better than some people who’ve gone to college to work in “white
collar jobs.”
In the last several years, I’ve seen a big push for people
to go to college or some kind of extra schooling above and beyond K – 12. The
idea is that if you go to college or a training school of some sort, you will
come out able to get a good job that earns more money than you could without
the extra training. What they don’t tell you in the advertising is that no one can guarantee that you will get a job
in your field of choice. Not only that, but in some cases you come out of
school in debt. The lenders are only too happy to lend you money with the
promise that you don’t have to start paying it back till six months after
graduation. By then, you could be several thousand, if not hundreds of
thousands of dollars in debt, depending on the degree you chose.
There are ways to avoid the debt. Grants and/or scholarships
can help. Also, going to school part-time as you can afford to pay for classes.
But what about those for whom college is not an option? I’m
not talking financially, but I’ve known people for whom college was not a good
fit. One worked at a fast food restaurant, one worked security, and a couple of
others I knew worked in warehouses. I know, some people think fast food is for
high schoolers only. Well, guess what. For fast food to be open in the mornings
for breakfast and lunch, adults must work those shifts as all the high
schoolers are in school! Yet, we as a people look down on those jobs as being
less than worthy of our attention and labor. Those kinds of jobs are good,
honest work and the people who do them are worthy of their wages. In fact, they
should be able to make a living wage at those jobs without going into
management.
The same applies to plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc.
Any job that can be taught on the job, is worth doing. Without the people doing
those jobs, a lot of the things we depend on would completely fall apart. Think
about it. If a pipe bursts in your house, can you fix it yourself or do you
need to call a plumber? What about your electrical wiring? If your breaker box
blows, what are you going to do? Can you do more than check the oil and water
or pump gas into your car? If not, how do you take care of those things? I know
it’s easy to look down on people who do manual labor and to look down on those
kinds of jobs.
I’ve also learned from our electrician that with all the
training and classes he’s taken to stay on top of the new stuff in his field,
he figures he’s earned at least a master’s degree in his field. From all the certificates I've seen on the wall at the auto mechanic's shop, I'd say they've earned at least an Associates degree if not a Bachelors for their job as well. These people are constantly taking classes in an effort to keep up with the changes in technology. I suspect
that’s true for anyone in the plumbing field too. Think about
that the next time you want to complain about how much it costs to have someone
perform a labor intensive, “no college degree” job.
Also think about this. This country was founded by people
who had to labor with their hands and the help of their neighbors to build
houses, barns, corrals, etc. Small business sprang up to provide goods and
services people couldn’t provide for themselves. Very few people had a college
degree. Some were lucky if they had any schooling at all. While I’m not
discounting the value of a good basic education, I think we need to quit
devaluing work that doesn’t require a college degree or requires someone to get
their hands dirty. I also think we need to quit pushing higher education as if
it were the answer to everyone’s job problems.
