Reporters as fans

That guy who fixes your toilet makes a hell of a lot more than you.

 

I do insurance now.
Have for nine years.
I’m done by 5 each day.
No one calls me in during the middle of the night to write a policy like they did house fires.
We have bonuses.
I make more.

 

In other words, are you trouble bussin’ in from out of state?

 

So why aren’t we pushing trades on young kids? Why are we telling them to chase their dream of being a storyteller racking up $300k in debt from some sham school like BU

 

SB, you get me in front of the same J-school classes where I used to champion newspapers, and I'll be more than glad to go back and tell them to change their major.

Then again, those schools haven't been banging on the door, probably because they know what I would say today.

 

Who is telling kids that?

 

A lot of people tell their kids that, or tell other kids that, along with believing higher education should be free for all.

Without digressing into the latter, going into "trades" still in this day and time is seen as a lesser occupation.

"Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too!"

What a terrible, elitist attitude. If the guy didn't dig the ditch people would bitch about having to dig ditches to mitigate flooding in their neighborhoods. If we didn't have plumbers, we'd still be on septic tanks or using slop jars and outhouses. The HVAC guy who toils in summer like a damned rat in a wool sock fixing the attic unit is somehow seen as a lesser person than Joe Writer or Amanda Accountant, simply because occupation. And that's wrong. I've known doctors who were trash and plumbers I'd welcome into my home anytime.

Parents want their kids to do well. We did. I'm sure you good folks do, as well. But if chasing dreams means eventually being miserable, and laid off or fearing quarterly layoffs because of terrible management or driving Uber to not be broke vs. learning to weld or fix toilets or being a damned fine landscaper, I'd gladly tell them to do the latter and focus on trades.

One thing about trades, too, is they have to in many cases maintain certifications. What writer does? If you don't keep up, of course, you get left behind. But trades often have mandatory or strongly encouraged certification requirements, just like in the IT community. That's a good thing. Those trade occupations should be applauded.

 

You'll notice that I previously said "change their major" rather than "quit school and find a trade."

It might be elitist, but I'll continue to stand behind the value of higher education. Especially when I see mouth-breathers on social media suggesting that 18-year-olds should be required to provide two years of military service before they're allowed to go to college.

Is it too expensive? Are we saddling young people with bills they can't meet? Yes, we are, and THAT is what needs to be addressed. But you get more out of a college education than what you learn in class.

 

I think the script has flipped in this country over the last 20 years. It used to be that trades and blue collar work was looked down upon as "lesser than." Many of us had parents or grandparents who put in decades in the coal mines or steel mills and wanted something less dirty and a little more sophisticated for their kids and grandkids. They thought it would provide for a career path with more dignity. Now? College educated people are looked down upon as "elitists," or we demean the major they're taking as "worthless."

 

With the irony being that those perpetuating the idea are the most elitist dipshits of all.

 

My son graduated from BU in 2007. He had a double major and one of them was communications. He makes real good money today running digital communications to the public by the New York subway system. My daughter graduated in 2011, a double major in poli sci and French literature. She makes good money living in Bordeaux, France working at a wine exporting firm. Don't slag BU. Evidence doesn't support it.