Are you serious? I've never gone face to face with someone so delusional. We both work in trades, but we have very different perspectives and philosophies.
Little side story. The man is a decent neighbor. He's always smiling, friendly, and will genuinely look to help you. However, he's a stanch conservative that has American flags and F Joe and the Hoe stickers on his truck. He routinely spouts off Fox news BS and complains about the economy. I think at this point I probably don't have to continue – you know the type of guy I'm talking about.
I think the thing that kind of rattled me a little more than usual is the disconnect he has with our capitalist economy and the entrenched unionization that exists in our part of the country. He firmly understands that unionized workers in his field make more money and have better benefits than him, but he can't come to terms with “paying to have a job” – I can't believe he said that. I proceeded to tell him that union jobs statistically pay 8-10% more after dues and he agreed he was aware of that, citing that union jobs in his field pay almost double what he's making. When asked if he'd seek a union job to elevate his financial position he was extremely hesitant. That's where it got a bit weird.
He proceeded to tell me that both union and non union have there pros and cons and he couldn't see himself moving into a union job despite the fact that his hourly wage would increase by nearly $20/h. He'd have better benefits including more time off too. That's pretty standard for his politics – I guess. But then he moved into his philosophy of behavior at work. He said, “I don't think I could do it though. I can't behave the way I was brought up in the industry. I can't be a pig at work and then come home to be respectful to my wife and kids. There's a 'movement' at work where guys don't want to yelled at work and they don't want to any derogatory language. I mean I can't even make someone feel like an ass for doing bad work that I have to fix.” At that point I admittedly kind of glossed over. Seriously what the hell do you say to that?
How do you even have a productive conversation with someone so disconnected?