What it Means to be a Blue Collar Worker
Being a blue-collar worker means a lot of different things to different people, not all of them exactly flattering. As someone who’s worked in both the white and blue collar worlds (often at the same time) I’ve come up with a few insights on what it means to be a blue-collar worker in an increasingly white-collar world:
Less stress
It’s not that blue-collar workers don’t have job stress, it’s just that somehow it’s easier to put the stress of an unfinished job behind you after a day of framing than it is after a day of Power Point presentations.
It’s easier to get good at your job
If you work hard every day and constantly try to learn new things sooner or later you’re going to become a better dry-wall-er, backhoe operator or cab driver as long as you’re not lazy, stupid or don’t care about the work. In the white collar world you have to deal with people more, and the “human factor” can make doing a good job impossible no matter how skilled or enthusiastic about a project you might be.
You leave work at work
Unless you’re an owner-operator contractor who’s on the jobsite all day and in the office all night, most blue-collar workers start and end their working days on a fairly rigid schedule. Generally they’re not expected to take work home with them or work overtime with no extra pay. Their bosses usually don’t call them up in the middle of dinner because they just got a great idea for growing the company and in many blue-collar workers don’t have the tools with them to keep working once they’re home even if they wanted to.
Being a blue-collar worker means getting up at the same time every day (usually quite early), and going to the same place to do the same thing day in, day out. It can get boring, monotonous and it can feel like you’re wasting your time. Being a blue-collar worker can also mean being unfairly labelled as unintelligent, crude or dirty, and many people see blue-collar workers as financially worse off than the rest of society. It can mean being yelled at by an angry customer, being woken by a phone call at 3am because your cousin’s furnace just broke down or being laid off simply because the value of the currency has hit a magic number for your employer.
But being a blue-collar worker can also mean many more good things, and there are ways to counter the stereotypes. Instead of your customers seeing you as just another illiterate trades-person, invite them to the amateur operetta you’re starring in, or share with them your love of Beethoven’s symphonies. It’s obvious that you will shower after a day of cleaning out septic tanks, but do your dinner guests know that? And while it’s not considered polite to discuss financial matters openly what you can do and should do is be sure to donate to worthy causes in your community, and be seen to be doing so.
At the end of the day being a blue-collar worker means taking pride in your work and taking pride in yourself. Don’t be ashamed of who you are and what you do, your contribution is just as important, if not more so than that of any CEO.
