Zachary Munford
Eng-1050
Mr.McGlothin
October 5, 2014
“Blue-Collar Workers aren’t just Blue-Collar”
Mike Rose, the author of the essay “Blue-Collar Brilliance” talks about the relationship between blue-collar workers and the knowledge or formal education they have. Rose also talks some about his personal experience on this topic and how blue-collar workers are often generalized or given stereotypes. I agree with Rose that blue-collar workers are generalized and made assumptions about.
In this essay Rose talks about his mother and father, and how his mother Rosie who had to drop out of school to take care of her siblings in the seventh grade and his father only completed 1 or 2 elementary grades before quitting. Rose’s mother is a waitress
…show more content…
and Rose also lists some of the skills she developed as a waitress and how she learned to work smarter rather than harder. Rose also talks some about his own academic background before starting on the topic of blue-collar workers. In the next paragraph Rose introduced a thought that I greatly agreed with.
Rose says, many people believe that vocations requiring less formal education also require less intelligence (247). Although Rose says this he is actually opposed to this generalization and stereotype as am I. Just because you have a vocation that needs less formal schooling does not mean you are not as smart as someone in a managerial position over you. There are two types of education, and you can have all the book sense in the world, but if you don’t have any common sense in conjunction bad social skills it is not much use. As for blue collar workers they typically have more social skills because that is what they deal with on a daily basis. Just because someone is a blue collar worker u should not label them as dumb or unintelligent because they have their own set of special skills. One clear example of this is rose’s mother Rosie, as a waitress in family restaurants and small coffee shops she didn’t just take orders and bring food out. Being a waitress is much more involved than generally thought. One thing that you would need to learn is the jargon and all the abbreviations for the job. Memorization is also a very important key in being a waitress. If you can’t remember what each person had to drink and eat for a table of ten then you might want to consider another job. This was also applied not just for one table but several tables at a time. Then there is also the very important social aspect …show more content…
in which you need to know how to communicate with people and come across as positive and happy. This is one of many examples of jobs that seem easy but are mental than thought. Rose also states another good point saying “much of physical work is social and interactive.”(252) I can also agree with this because a lot of people for example assume a big, muscular construction worker could never have a four year degree from a university when in fact it is just not the case.
Construction workers and not just brawns they have brains too. Building a house or constructing any type of building is not just a matter of wood and nails, it takes very precise measurements and lots and lots of planning. There has to be blueprints drawn then getting the owner’s input and asking them what they want and plan according to that. Then they must also have all of the physical knowledge on how to build a house and how to use all the many different types of equipment needed for the job. As Rose states physical work is not just physical it involves social acts
also. Another good thought rose introduces is, if we think that everyday jobs are unimportant or unnecessary then we are advocating social separation and limiting opportunities. (254) What Rose is saying is that if waiters, construction workers and other types of blue-collar workers are not important then that is like saying we don’t need them and if we don’t need them then who is going to serve people there food and if there is no construction workers who is going to build houses. If we are giving stereotypes and judging these workers we are only limiting social and vocational opportunities for the later generations. These main thoughts are the ones we need to keep in mind when interact with blue-collar workers and we need to appreciate them just like everyone else. Just because someone is in physical work doesn’t mean they have no social skills or are unintelligent. We should not give categorize them or generalize them according to their job. This is the way we should always think these days to keep opportunities socially and physically open and equal for all. Works Cited Rose, Mike. "Blue-Collar Brilliance." “American Scholar:” 2nd Ed. New York City. W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. 243-255.
We, as a society, feel the need to draw imaginary lines to separate ourselves whether it’s the line between color of our skin, our religion differences, our political beliefs, or the status of our class. As much as I wish there wasn’t a defining line between high class and the educated vs. low class and uneducated, there is. In Mike Rose’s narrative essay “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” he describes his mother’s lack of education and her hard labor work which is the quote on quote the blue collar working class.
He claims to relate his mother’s quick and effective decisions, customer interactions, memorisation and problem solving, and his uncle, Joe’s, learning, planning and management skills to that of a white-collar worker. “Preposterous”, some might argue. “You cannot possibly compare waiters and conductors with boffins.” However, the dichotomy between the blue-collars and white-collars are subtle. Regardless of Rose’s claim that blue-collar workers are more efficient and carry a broader skill set, there exists no comparison between the two categories. Granted, the social biases about one’s occupation are irrational; however, blue-collars cannot substitute white-collar workers merely because of their “diverse intelligence”. Given Rose’s experiences, he has colluded blue-collar intelligence with white-collar intelligence. Id Est, he believes that social discrimination against blue-collar workers is fallacious from his observations; thus, their skills are the analogous to white-collar workers. In sum, blue-collar workers are intelligent and important in their respective and applicable fields, and white-collars in theirs’; drawing comparisons between them are like comparing apples and
In the article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance” by Mike Rose, he begins with an anecdote of his mother working her blue-collar job at a diner as a waitress. Rose vividly describes her common day that is packed with a constant array of tedious tasks she has to accomplish to make her living. The authors goal appears to be making the reader appreciate the hard work of blue-collar workers because society places a stereotype on them as being less intelligent than someone with more schooling or even a white-collar job: “Our cultural iconography promotes the muscled arm, sleeve rolled tight against biceps, but no brightness behind the eye, no inmate that links hand and brain” (282). I agree with Rose’s conclusion that if we continue to place a stigma on
Blue Collar workers today are looked down upon by most of society. People think that if you have a blue collar job you aren’t smart and not successful. But in my opinion, blue collar workers are the backbone of our society, and deserve the same amount of respect as white collar workers. “Blue Collar Brilliance by Mike Rose” explains how blue collar workers are very smart and use a lot of brainpower to get their jobs done. Both his Uncle and mother were blue collar workers and that’s where he got his inspiration to stand up for blue collar workers around the world. He gives us examples of how his own family members were blue collar workers and how they were smart and how they excelled at their jobs. He uses his own experiences to show us that blue collar workers are in fact smart, able to adapt to many different situations, and deserve respect.
Does the amount of schooling measure a person’s intelligence level? The essay “Blue Collar Brilliance” written by Mike Rose, argue that the intelligent a person has should not be measure under the amount of schooling, using the example of his uncle, who did not get a formal education, become the head of general motor. As for this, Rose suggest that education should be taken as priority. I agree with Rose point of view because the one who get formal education do not symbolize success. In older generation, many people could not afford the tuition, however they can also succeed. In the other word, having formal education does not grantee us a successful future.
“Intelligence is closely associated with formal education- the type of schooling a person has, how much and how long- and most people seem to move comfortably from the notion to a belief that work requiring less schooling requires less intelligence” (Rose 276). My Dad has worked blue collar jobs his entire life. Security guard, lawn service, woodworker, carpenter, plus anything else that involves his hands. He didn’t have any schooling past his high school diploma. But he’s always told me, “Yeah, I wish I went to college, but I’m sure as hell glad I was taught and forced to learn the skills I have now. Like doing things on my own and working with my hands, my work ethic, and my ability to absorb as many things as I could to get the job done.” Blue collar jobs can never be outsourced. There will always be a need for plumbers, electricians, machine operators, carpenters and many, many more
A college Degree used to be an extraordinary accolade but now its just another thing that we need in order to be successful, at this points its nothing more than a paperweight to some. Mike Rose states, “Intelligence is closely associated with formal education—the type of schooling a person has, how much and how long—and most people seem to move comfortably from that notion to a belief that work requiring less schooling requires less intelligence” (Mike Rose 276). In other words the author of Blue-Collar Brilliance, Mike Rose, believes that blue-collar jobs require intelligence as well. I agree that those who work blue-collar jobs need to be intelligent, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people believe that those who work blue-collar jobs aren't intelligent and that why they have them. Although I also believe that
Mike Rose’s article “Blue-Collar Brilliance” talks about people judging other people’s intelligence based on their jobs. Mike Rose explains in his article that people with blue collar jobs are just as intelligent as people with white collar jobs because they both use critical thinking and multi task while they are working. The standard of their jobs might be different because of their different ways of learning. People who are considered professionals or white collared individuals learn by studying or reading reports where blue collared individuals learn by performing a task. They learn faster ways to perform the task after they have done it multiple times. I believe that Rose’s thinking is very effective as it tells us that we should not judge
Why does our society think people who have blue-collared jobs don't need intelligent to work there job? Thats a lie according to Rose:
Rose Mary is a selfish woman and decides not to go to school some mornings because she does not feel up to it. Jeannette takes the initiative in making sure that her mother is prepared for school each morning because she knows how much her family needs money. Even though Rose Mary starts to go to school every day, she does not do her job properly and thus the family suffers financially again. When Maureen’s birthday approaches, Jeannette takes it upon herself to find a gift for her because she does not think their parents will be able to provide her with one. Jeannette says, “at times I felt like I was failing Maureen, like I wasn’t keeping my promise that I’d protect her - the promise I’d made to her when I held her on the way home from the hospital after she’d been born. I couldn’t get her what she needed most- hot
The thought of her brothers still being in her former home environment in Maine hurt her. She tried to think of a way to get at least one of her brothers, the sickly one, to come and be with her. She knew that her extended family was financially able to take in another child, and if she showed responsibility, there would be no problem (Wilson, 40). She found a vacant store, furnished it, and turned it into a school for children (Thinkquest, 5). At the age of seventeen, her grandmother sent her a correspondence, and requested her to come back to Boston with her brother (Thinkquest, 6).
The characters Rose in Eight Cousins and Laurie in Little Women are similar in terms of socioeconomic societies, unlike the March sisters in Little Women who struggle to support themselves during the Civil War. After becoming a recent orphan, Rose was put into the care of several unknown family members, wealthy Scottish descents from Boston, engaged in the China trade. As a heiress she was expected by her aunts to attend “a fashionable finishing school” (Alcott).
Her parents meet at a social gathering in town and where married shortly thereafter. Marie’s name was chosen by her grandmother and mother, “because they loved to read the list was quite long with much debate over each name.” If she was a boy her name would have been Francis, so she is very happy to have born a girl. Marie’s great uncle was a physician and delivered her in the local hospital. Her mother, was a housewife, as was the norm in those days and her father ran his own business. Her mother was very close with her parents, two brothers, and two sisters. When her grandmother was diagnosed with asthma the family had to move. In those days a warm and dry climate was recommended, Arizona was the chosen state. Because her grandma could never quite leave home, KY, the family made many trips between the states. These trips back and forth dominated Marie’s childhood with her uncles and aunts being her childhood playmates.
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.
In the United States many people have misconceptions as to the work people in blue collar jobs do versus those who are employed in white collar jobs. Blue collar jobs are not shown the appreciation and respect they deserve because people feel that anyone can perform those jobs. White collar jobs require people to have an educational background with degrees, certificates and years of experience. On the other hand, blue collar jobs sometimes do not have many requirements and some even accept people without a high school education. Every job whether it is a blue collar or white collar deserves respect and appreciation because they each require their own set of skills. Low wage paying jobs such as fast food work has intellectual demands. Working