I've never understood when people say things like "you'll end up working construction" or "you'll end up being a garbageman" if you don't get your act together.
Both of those jobs are honorable, pay well, and I'm sure a lot of the people who do them enjoy them. There's still kind of a weird bias in this country against people who work with their hands, for some reason...I don't get it.
But, you still do hear comments like that from people out there.
Folks on AskReddit discussed this mentality. Let's see what they had to say.
"I always took "you don't want to end up in construction" as you don't want to do something your whole life that takes a toll on your body.
At least that's how my parents always pushed it on me."
"It's a respectable job and the people who work it deserve respect.
But it's also back-breaking work with a high risk of injury and will ultimately lead to a lot of nasty health problems as you grow old."
"I'm a pipe fitter.
With only a technical high school diploma I make over 6 figures.
Pros are I get to go to different places everyday and fix things, good pay and I don't have college debt.
Cons are it's back breaking work that has given me two shoulder surgeries (one on each) and bad knees. Having to have surgery because of your job isn't for everybody."
"Unfortunately even though the money can be great, there's a certain lifestyle that's rampant.
Drugs, alcohol, crazy spending.
Obviously not true for all construction workers, but it's definitely there.
My cousin could makes great money, but he'd have nothing left a week after payday."
"It's a great job to have when you are young but be careful and get out early. The type of work you find on most construction sites is very back breaking.
I suggest it while someone is young because the body can handle it then but doing the job for too long, even with the proper technique and equipment, your body is going to start falling apart.
Then you have the worst case scenario where you can get hurt far easier than other jobs. My best friend was on a site where they were removing cases with glass panels. Someone accidentally bumped a case while not paying attention on a forklift.
The case hit another case which fell on top of my friend. He instinctually put his hands up to stop it but it came down on his glass facing him and it broke when it hit him. A piece of glass sliced the muscle or whatever it is that allows you to move your pointer finger.
Surgery was able to reconnect it so he can use his hand fully again but he was told flat out by the doctor this is an injury that will haunt him his entire life. And when my friend spoke to a lawyer he repeated what the doctor said and was told basically ain't sh*t he can do about it.
He can sue for medical bills or years later when it starts to really bother him again he cant go after them again. He's f*cked and now has an injury his entire life to deal with and the job wont do sh*t for it."
"I've heard the pay is well but doing back-breaking work for so usually isn't ideal.
It's a very important and necessary job just doesn't seem like one many think a lot about."
"I know it comes with some negative connotations, but construction work is a respectable job.
They build the houses we live in and the schools we learn and teach in."
Alright, now we want to hear from all the readers out there.
In the comments, tell us what you think about this issue.
Please and thank you!
