Rods & Cones

Blue collar BS is BS

My lady and I were discussing the supply and demand of job economics. She was reflecting on how she’s busting chops in college to earn a degree, in the mean time even the least skilled or technical jobs are scrutinizing potential employees for bachelors degrees.

She works in a pie shop part time. She she works an oven, tends to customers, handles dough and whip cream. You don’t need a degree (earned in blood, sweat, and tears, and tens of thousands of dollars) to do this work - but what do all the workers have in common? They’ve attained (or in process of attaining) university degrees.

But then again the whole higher education system is flawed (actually the whole education system is flawed). Going to college isn’t an indicator of qualifying variables to land a professional position. I believe that “college education” is a false marker of “good employee” - going to class and group discussions and exams don’t prepare you for world encounters (particularly different generations of people).

I’m all for finding a job. But University level experience should buy you into more than a measly 8 bucks an hour. However, pieces of cardstock with fancy writing and a golden star sticker aren’t worth crap - everyone’s been getting those since they were five. And “nobody does what they got their undergrad degree in.” You need years and years of more “education” and “unpaid internships” and “residency” to do what you really want to do. Truth be told, I’m preaching to myself. I’m graduated, yet I’m moving books around for the library (manual manual labor haha). What’s not helping? Unskilled labor employers take themselves a little too seriously. Honestly - anyone can do that job (flipping burgers, taking phone calls, canning tuna, etc.).

We both agreed that some type of apprenticeship should be reintroduced for all fields of work. The only thing a university has is facilities (no one has a legitimate chem lab in their garage …unless they’re involved in urban pharmaceuticals) and I understand the need for that. But really - for anything else, I wish you could drop out, skip GE stupidity, evade bureaucratic scavenger hunts, avoid incompetent class advisors. Instead, build your own curriculum - read what you want to read on what you want to read, find a master at what you want to do and get the what you want straight from the horse’s mouth. Then share what you’re learning with anyone who will listen. Maybe that’s just how my passion plays.

But in the end…it takes money to earn money and I guess you just roll with the punches.