“My brother is a pipe fitter and he makes six figures.”
There was once a day, not long ago, where fancy lads went to university, the more prestigious the better, and derelicts (read: surfers) picked up jobs laying brick, digging trenches, cleaning muck from pipes. It wasn’t a luxury life but it afforded enough for surf accessories, early morning surf windows and the odd surf trip.
An honest life.
Understandable that worry is percolating, then, now that university is allegedly out and the fancy lads are embracing manual labor, USA Today declaring definitively “blue collar is in.”
The piece details the results of a recent survey that questioned nearly 1500 young adults and what jobs are trending, especially the highest paying. Nathan Soto, author of the report, spoke for most when saying, “My brother is a pipe fitter and he makes six figures.”
So, what are the highest paying blue collar jobs?
Elevator and escalator technician pulls an average salary of $106,580.
Electrical powreline installer and repairer $92,560
Aircraft avionics equipment mechanic and technician $79,140
Railroad worker $75,680
Stationary engineer and boiler operator $75,190
Industrial machinery mechanic $63,510
Plumber, pipefitter and steamfitter $62,970
Wind turbine technician $62,580
Electrician $62,350
Solar photovoltaic installer $51,860
Soon, all these jobs will be filled by gentlemen named Brooks and Atticus but are you lucky enough to have one now?
Which?
Unfortunately surf website proprietor did not make the list.
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AI isnt going to build you a house…
Many degree holders I know make $300k-$500k+. I guess it depends on the industry and luck. Young ‘uns – don’t look past uni too readily.
Those twats wouldn’t last a day. Four -Tens in the dead of summer or winter…..
Idk. My wife and I both make six figures moving words around for organizations doing very meaningful work in the world, and won’t have crippling back injuries because of it. But I’d 100% go into a trade apprenticeship even in my mid-40s because working with your hands is also deeply fulfilling. I spent years in blue collar work. Anyway, point is, it would well and truly suck to find yourself in a job you hate just because you went to college OR a did a trade apprenticeship and feel you have to stick with it.
The real distinction is not white collar vs. blue collar. It’s people who own their labor vs. people who sell their labor.
Bex Vidina
Bexy. Pretty sure he was Zika, too.
Wasnt
Bleached Git?
Nope
One thing I learned in college is not everything is a huge conspiracy.
I still reckon the current POTUS has the best job going though. Shut down the government, talk shit all day and play heaps of golf and make a fucking fortune even though he isn’t legally supposed to make a cent outside of his position.
Best thing is the only “qualification” he needed to get the gig is to be a massive shit cunt who spent his life ripping off everyday American workers, somehow bankrupted two casinos which seems impossible, met his “wife” on the Lolita Express and thinks its fine to “just grab em by the pussy”. The Land of the Free is one fucking weird country ay hahaha
Don’t all kids these days want to be Influencers and YouTubers? Coming to a beach near you soon….
So many names
I was always able to control my schedule, most important part. People think surfers are slackers, but most of us work harder and grind so that we have time to chase waves. Experiences meant more to me than possessions, found a way to travel and make money in batches.
Corporate template and the ensuing bank loans have the purpose of making sure you’re compliant to your debts. Add wife, then kids, that’s it surf fan, enjoy the point on Saturday morning before your Home depot run and before ballet practice.
I lived a life built around surfing and nothing but until about age 40. I guess it’s different for everyone, but now that I have kids, a 9-5 (mostly from home, admittedly), and own a house that needs constant work, I’m far more fulfilled.
Sound ideal.
BG EAST board submission. Hit me up in the DM’s for a custom.❤️
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
So are you actually Tom Curren ?
Or Maurice Cole (with a new BG name) ?
“Some people call me Maurice.”- Sam George
amazing template and rocker.
Good to go, glue some fins on.
Fins are ready. Duct tape invitational edition Venmo.
I’m a carpenter from the Far north Coast, really close to the QLD border. I didn’t mind school but sitting in a stinking hot classroom listening to some cunt droning on when you knew Kirra or the beachies were cooking was fucked so my attendance record could be described as patchy at best haha
Being a Strayan tradie has enabled me to score pumping waves both here at home and all around this wonderful planet, as well as turn a dilapidated old joint into a dream home for me and me grom really close to the beach and creek so I feel heaps grateful. Also really rewarding has been putting five really good young surfers and humans through their apprenticeships and giving them a big helpful push into productive and fun lives
Only real drawback is it takes a bit of a toll on the rig as you get older but then it’s also helping keeping you fit. Another massive plus is a knock off cold one tastes fucking epic after an early splash and a day on the tools haha
Are you supposed to be able to live in a surf town receiving those wages? I haven’t checked the rents in Cardiff by the sea but I highly doubt it. And most of those jobs, unless you run your own company, you’re working 12-hour days and at the job 630-7
Can hardly make it on $270K combined in SoCal…..Strewth
I’m thinking of becoming a surf coach next April at Bells. Look out T Whit
Retired at 44 ?
Crikey, you must’ve been on the big bucks early.
Did you own your own fish n chip shop ?
Or had an upper management role at Smiths ?
P.S.
Didn’t the famous red-haired Aussie (racist ?) woman politician originally work in a fish n chip shop ?
(Just like the toothsome (ex) NZ woman PM…)
A chippy ?
Is that someone who makes fish n chips, or potato crisps ?
If, at 55, re-starting my career via TAFE and a trade was a realistic option, I probably would do it.
Bit late for fuckwit like me to be an apprentice.
Nah never too late.
The older you get the more your collective experience kicks in and makes taking on a new trade a bit easier.
So much harder to scream at an older apprentice.
Hahaha kin oath and its even easier to shout at apprentices these days the way they love shaving their legs and so on
I went through a major career panic a couple years back and encountered lots of dudes talking about being electrical apprentices in their early 50s. I think the key is avoiding jobs that fuck your body up pretty bad.
Pffttzzzz, yeah riiiight
We all know BG’s resident plumber gets at least 3 times what it says there, and only works half the week which gives him all that extra time to regulate poetry and food photos…