right on the money Todd

Mike Rowe has it right. There's nothing wrong with getting in and getting dirty. It's clean, honest work that one can be proud of and take pride in.

When I was in high school - there was a trade school called Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland Oregon where I lived -- I wanted to get in there so bad... but you actually kind of had to get kicked out of a regular high school to go there! WTF.... It's turned into a regular school now.

Ha, you got that right. Although it's been harder and harder to find good qualified skilled trades people in the last few months. A step in the right direction here locally.


Todd, you and I know the good ole Midwest appreciates blue collar labor as much as anyone, but I agree with you as far as the nation as a whole.

There is also a big problem with this country's lack of work ethic in these skilled trades (I have been in the construction recruiting/staffing business for 13 years now in Northern Calif) and it ain't getting any better here. And the sense of entitlement for the available jobs out there is all too common. I don't want to segue too far off here, but the people that relocate from the countries south of us for many of these skilled trades are just as skilled and have a superior work ethic overall. That's a big problem I've seen for years.

Without getting off topic, the attitude of many now days "feels" like they deserve better...Better ?? Top Mechanics,Plumbers, and Electricians, do pretty well.

I have worked for years in the Solar business in Northern California.. Plumbing and electrical in high, steep, Dangerous places.. Doing the work on the ground is child's play..

So you want to teach BOTH Plumbing, and Electrical to new people while they train, and work... What a bunch of Lazy bums... most cannot hack working at all, let alone self starting, thinking on the fly, problem solving, critical thinking, multi tasking...ZERO..

This isn't McDonalds!!! This is a Skill you can take to any other industry...Home Electric or plumbing. Car work... Life skills...fixing your own Home...Oh wait, they will never have one because they are TOO lazy, and entitled.

My God, Doctors are plumbers and electricians...Of the Body... I have a plumber, a Cardiologist, and an electrician, my neurologist...

Knowing things is cool, can save you money, and can make you income...

Youth of America....HELLO...:willy: :willy: :cheers: :lateral:

That was a great speech!

^^^^^x2..........Could see my now 24 yr old was plenty smart for 4 year college but not patient --So we sat down after high school and discussed it--He had gotten the TOPS program grant (state money for top grads) so we decided a local trade school would work better for him.....stayed out 1st semester after H.S. and worked and then completed 2 years of trade school in plant processing (While working also) ...........Just got on permanent job in local polymer plant ....in 1 1/2 years will be fully vested at $33 hr. I'm like Greg ...U talk to them---then see if the plan works--they always stray ....but I consider it my job as father to steer him to a better situation so HE can make his future..NOT me give him everything ...nobody learns from that.......my 2 cents.....jim

I didn't graduate college until 30. I tell people college is where you find out what you want to do with your life. You may find out college is not it and there's nothing wrong with that. I graduated from UGA at the same time my friend graduated from Athens Tech. I have a mech engr degree and he has his physical therapist's degree. He's also only two months older than me. Our first years out, he's making basically the same as me and can go higher as well. His degree was only a two year degree and he was the only one in that class that didn't already have a four year degree. There was even a person with a masters degree in his class.

Also, my job is engineer in title only. Most of my counterparts have high school diplomas or a two year tech degree. You can go to any of the boom areas right now and make 100k a year easily doing my job or even just being an operator which is basically a laborer. You'll have to work long and hard hours though. You'll be away from your family too. You'll also have potential to move up. All that with a simple two year degree or a work ethic and willingness to better yourself.

There are only two car guys on my block. Want to guess which two guys everyone else on the block turns to when something stops working in their house? Yeah, and were the one with the smelly, loud, obnoxious cars in the Nazi Homeowners Association neighborhood. Go figure.

I deal almost exclusively with heavy industry customers. In just about every case there is a ton of both skilled and tribal knowledge that is being lost because there are not enough skilled younger workers that hang on long enough to get the hands-on education from the journeymen that is sorely needed. Those that do stay are few and far between, and they have to be paid well to stay. Let's face it, working hard in a dirty, loud, hazardous environment is not for everyone, so you have to pay to keep the good ones. The journeymen are retiring faster than they can be replaced.

There has been a movement afoot at several major manufacturers to go back to the old-school training programs. They have found it cheaper to have their own formalized training program that teaches their workers exactly what they need to know to get their jobs done right. It does pay in the end, since at $1M/day downtime it does not take much of a mistake to be upside-down in the +/- columns.

I've also always though it funny that some people will poo-poo a job, say a plumber for instance, that is until the poop starts floating around on the floors, and then all of the sudden they are begging the plumber for relief.

^^^^^^ Carl -- That sounds like when I used to do fireworks.... everybody wanted to come out and do a fireworks show ------ and some would even last part of a day! Hot as hell - humid - hot steel and sand and rust - you're covered with it - we call it getting corn dogged.... working inside a 40' trailer that's stacked with mortars... spent gun powder... and bits of paper from last years show - all black and stinky... No air movement whatsoever... and it's 50* hotter in the trailer than out in the hot sun... OH -- and you have about 10 days of that from 7AM til 5 or 6 at night...

Or trying to build a show in Denver for the Winter Olympics... and you're fingers don't work....

Or carrying EVERYTHING UP 6 flights of stairs to do a show on the roof of the Treasure Island in Las Vegas... and then carrying everything DOWN those same stairs after the show is done... the only good news - we shot the shells... but all the mortars and racks and cables and controllers....

Some guys would work one whole show --- then you never saw them or heard from them again... ONE AND DONE. :woot: