You want to know what I’ve learned working in the trades for the past decade? The trades fucking suck. I don’t know where the big lie about blue collar work paying well came about but I have yet to see it. I’ve worked for a few different companies in a few different fields and all of them paid jack shit. When I complained, I was told I was too young and inexperienced to make good money. Now I’m a licensed journeyman and I make the same amount of money as a cashier at Walmart. No disrespect to anyone who works there, but it’s just very discouraging to put my body through hell everyday just to make 19$ an hour. Everyone wonders why no one wants to do blue collar work anymore. This is why. Why the fuck would anyone want to do some of the hardest work on the planet for the same pay that you can make at McDonald’s? If you’re a young person reading this and you’re considering a career in the trades: JOIN A FUCKING UNION. You will not make good money otherwise. The construction industry wants you stupid, broke, and living paycheck to paycheck. The people who tell you “oh I make all this money” are either lying, in a union, or they own their own company