Comments on: Whirled Views 5.8

By: Pauline

Pauline — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:11:16 +0000

My impression is that the distinction between blue collar and white collar used to be much clearer, prior to the technology that has changed both office and factory so dramatically in the past fifty years or so. White collar workers had education and had desk jobs. They could wear white shirts because their work didn’t get them dirty. Blue collar workers had less education and were either skilled or unskilled labor, and generally got their clothes dirty. Today factory workers are using computers and often require specialized skills that most office workers don’t have.

Growing up, I had never heard of the terms blue collar and white collar, but when I did learn about them I realized that my parents’ friends the Smiths were a blue collar family. (My father was white collar, an actuary.) The Smiths all wore jeans, which none of us did. They drank beer. (My father occasionally drank wine.) Their grammar wasn’t as good as ours, and they were more likely to use coarse language. They didn’t have books lying around the house.

As I said, today it’s different. My co-workers in the IT department wear jeans, drink beer, and make grammatical mistakes that surprise me, since they all have college degrees.

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By: mtcon

mtcon — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:41:11 +0000

Stubob,

My occupation is similar to yours without the silk panties!! Or even clean panties! SCEPTER BONNK!! OW!! STOP!!

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By: mtcon

mtcon — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:35:02 +0000

SteveG-

I agree with your distinctions between BC and WC. And considering the tone of other comments we could say That NJL has her “undies in a bunch over nothin’!” Please Forgive me NJL!

Yesterday they had an “Employee Appreciation Day” at the insitution where I work. All employees were supposed to go to the administration building and tour trade booths, visit with the mucky-mucks, have great conversation about our jobs, hear great appreciative things about ourselves and have a dinner of fried chicken, polish dogs, salad and a big Appreciation Cake.

Before noon when we were to be there, I had artificially inseminated 3 cows, assisted in the birth of two calves, given intervenous treatments to a very sick cow, given oral treatments to sick calves, and was on the receiving end of a cow with severe digestive problems. I was actually covered with blood, afterbirth and manure and smelled the part.

If I would have gone in to have lunch with the White Collars they would have lost their chicken, polish dogs and Appreciation Cake with the first whiff.

I got a call this morning and was informed that I won a door prize and should stop and pick it up at the HR Office. I will go and get it on my day off when I can be more presentable.

That is the difference between White Collar and Blue Collar. I often have red collar and green collar but it all comes out in the wash. We all have vocations that serve a purpose in our lives and in the lives of others and we need to be thankful for all.

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By: SteveG

SteveG — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:55:26 +0000

NJLawyer … siiigh. Is it possible for me to say anything you won’t find a way to take offense to?

I was making the distinction between work that includes a significant amount of physical skill and work that is primarily about sitting at a desk.

There was nothing condescending about it at all. Good grief.

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By: StuBob

StuBob — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:43:04 +0000

KIM:Stubob you need a better clientele.

Boy, that’s the truth!

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By: NJLawyer

NJLawyer — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:57:04 +0000

SteveG writes: “It’s a very simple, probably over-simple, distinction but I think of white-collar as people whose jobs are primarily about information and data, and blue-collar as people whose jobs are mostly about handiwork.”

Handiwork? You think a construction worker building a skyscraper does “handiwork?” How condescending.

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By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:42:22 +0000

__________________________

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kimberly

__________________________

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By: Chas

Chas — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:37:40 +0000

Kimberly!
Congratulations.

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By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:11:25 +0000

Stubob you need a better clientele. One of my first jobs was at a bank. One of the women was pregnant. She used to bring a clean white wash cloth in a ziploc bag to work with her so she could freshen up before each one of her OB appointments and I think she may have even changed her panties. I, never having had a mother explain these things to me, thought she must know what she was doing…

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By: StuBob

StuBob — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:42:20 +0000

Llama — I’m guessing you knew this guy a while back. Nowadays, all of those old ladies would have Medicare, and your friend wouldn’t be able to make a living if he gave the crazy ones the time they deserved/demanded.

Your assessment of him (sexist, blowhard, possibly fibbing) sounds about right. “Silk panty practice” is a term of envy, mostly — spoken by those of us for whom it would be an improvement to have a “clean panty practice.”

Mommy — I’ve never met NitroBob. But when TomBob was little, he did cause a certain amount of destruction…

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