3. TIL The entire US coal industry employs fewer people than Arbys

TIL The entire US coal industry employs fewer people than Arbys

I was having a conversation about this earlier last week.

The generation was taught 'Do well in highschool, git scholarships, go to high end university, get respectable degree in STEM (jobs where you sell your thinking ability), work in office 'pushing papers''. I'm sure it wasn't malicious but my school, and many others, had no shop classes, no ROTC, no technical classes. We were lucky to have Spanish. It was only Science and Creative classes. It's kind of the hand I was dealt. Living in a poorer area didn't help the school issue either.

I grew up in the 90's, and this was the mindset. Be an engineer! Do design! You were shunned by faculty if you wanted to work manual labor, "You're not living up to your potential!" they would say.

I know I wasn't the only one that got trapped in the "Go to college" mindset. Go to college, spend 30k, get a degree. Well. Got one, and guess what. I get to work temp jobs with no benefits for $18k/yr. Jobs I didn't even need a science degree for in the first place. Because I was raised to feel like it is below you to use your body for work instead of your brain.

And then, as you grow up, you figure out that maybe I'm really not the next Steve Jobs. The world is a lot bigger than your school was, and there are many others, better than you in academia even though you graduated top of your class. That maybe not everyone can do what your teachers taught because there simply isn't enough room for them all.

So now I'm going to work my summer temp job, and go to tradeschool in the fall for welding.

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - ashingtonpost.com
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