Blue Collar Brilliance Essay

To work is to solve problems. To solve problems is to learn. To learn is to become intelligent. However, those who work, who solve problems, who learn are considered less intelligent because of their work. Blue collar jobs are frowned upon because of the misconception that they require no intelligence. Blue collar workers learn to work smart by working; they learn to make every move count. The work requires both brain and body.

"There isn't a day that goes by in the restaurant that you don't learn something", says Mike Rose's mother who worked as a waitress most of her life. Mike Rose is the author of Blue Collar Brilliance . His Uncle,who dropped out of school in the ninth grade, is the head of the paint and body shop at general motors. "... it was like schooling.." he said "...a place where you're constantly learning" You can learn so much as a blue collar worker, his uncle learned everything from the basics of paint

chemistry to social dynamics to how to budget.
"My mother learned to work smart and make every move count" Mike says.

Blue Collar workers have to make every move count since their work demands both brain and body. His uncle who worked on the assembly line learned to use reserve his energy, otherwise he would have never made it on the assembly line. "The work was repetitive and taxing, and the pace was inhumane", not only did he have to use his brain but still deal with the repetitive taxing work of the assembly line. Unlike white collar jobs both brain and brawn are used.

Many people assume that because blue collar jobs "don't require brains", they make less money. However, blue collar jobs can make just as much. According to Mike Rowe, the host of show that does jobs no one else wants wants to do, says that Caterpillar is begging for jobs as a mechanic, but no one is taking the job. The starting salary is $50,000 and with experience is $120,000. In addition, there is an entire show (Blue Collar Millionaire) dedicated to the fact that there are blue collar workers making millions of

dollars.
Some might argue that "not all blue collar jobs" are educational. Mike's mother was a waitress, a job that is rather frowned upon. She learned to work smart and learned something new every day at work. If she had not, she would not have been able to keep her job. In the article Blue Collar Brilliance, Mike Rose describes that in hundreds of blue collar jobs, people are learning. People are solving problems, getting better, fixing mistakes.
In conclusion,blue collar jobs are just as good as white collar jobs. Blue collar jobs require both brain and body. In addition, blue collar workers are constantly learning, possibly more that white collar jobs. They work smart, and solve problems that they are faced with. people don't need to have white collar jobs to be smart. They just need to work, to solve problems, and to learn.