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Jennarated_Anomaly t1_irnks4z wrote

I’ll be curious to hear the responses, as a fellow professional making “peanuts”, who’s always been interested in trades work. (Here’s a special angry shout-out to all the all the teachers in my youth who down-played trades and pushed college as if it were my only real option. What a load of crap.)

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Efficient-Thought-35 t1_irnozxh wrote

Tbf to those teachers, back in the day having a college degree DID earn you more than trades.

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RitaPoole56 t1_irobvf1 wrote

What “day” are you talking about?

In the early 80’s I started as a union apprentice brickmason. I worked at it for 7 years and left when the jobs dried up. I worked about 10 years for a non-profit and when their main source of funds stopped switched to teaching.

I made MORE as an apprentice mason than I did nearly 14 years later as a rookie teacher. Physically the toll on my body was not as bad as masonry, mentally of course teaching was MUCH harder and I worked way more hours past 40 essentially unpaid. As a mason I had a foreman and the owner of the company to keep happy. As a teacher EVERYONE seemed to be my boss: the superintendent, the school admin, parents, taxpayers and the school board and even 12-13 year olds at times! It was aggravating, exhausting, and frustrating but mentally stimulating!

Good luck in the shift to working with your hands in a trade. At the end of a job you can point to something tangible and with pride (hopefully) say “I did that”, a type of gratification that one RARELY gets as an educator. I hope the new career is satisfying!

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IamSauerKraut t1_irp92d5 wrote

Had a older cousin who was a brick mason nearly his entire adult until he reached 65. Always wished he had a better paying job but work was steady and he was built like a tank. My dad was built the same way. 20 years of chucking artillery in the army then a pipefitter/cord puller at BIW for another 20 until he retired.

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RitaPoole56 t1_irpb4xr wrote

Sadly most masons don’t physically last that long. For every one that makes it to 65 my guess is there’s a few hundred that were out well before that.

I was a bit older than most apprentices and had a degree so I appreciated working with the older more interesting guys. My favorite was a man in his early 60’s that I teamed up with on a job. We were laying nearly solid blocks in a prison so it was 2 men on a block. He told hilarious jokes and stories all day so I didn’t mind picking up the slack.

Sadly he also had a serious drinking problem that seemed to be an common occupational hazard, perhaps self medication for dealing with chronic pain? Between the drink and sleep apnea he was picked up at the same stoplight near his home 2 weekends in a row asleep at the wheel and over the limit. He had to rely on pals to “car pool” to jobs. Rough life!

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Jennarated_Anomaly t1_iro4ij6 wrote

>back in the day

I wonder how much things have changed in a decade. Did a college degree really earn much more then? Looking back as an adult, I always assumed it was some elitist crap, but maybe there really was a shift between the Great Recession and COVID times…

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SadExtension524 t1_irp7qwe wrote

What day was that cuz in the early 2000s,my father, who's a master electrician, was making $50/hour

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ToesocksandFlipflops t1_irp5rfp wrote

I also am wondering when this was.. I graduated late 90s. I started teaching early 2000's never has it been in my career that the trades were downplayed. Granted my a chick so it was not really normal for girls to go to trade school but it was and option.

The only ridiculous thing that was told to me was not to worry about how to pay for school. And just take out a crap ton of loans, which 20 years later I am still paying back.

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IamSauerKraut t1_irp8oll wrote

My suggestion to the younger crowd looking to get into the trades is to learn how to program and operate the larger machines. CNC operators are in demand in a variety of geographical locations and the well-paying jobs appear very secure.

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Tnkgirl357 t1_irpq2xo wrote

Oribital welding… a couple of the folks from my apprenticeship class just got their UA certs in that shit and they’re gonna be SET, without having to be a goddamn circus director like the route I went going foreman instead of just getting a very specialized skill that is making waves.

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