Which is the highly skilled, well-paid person?

[UdoKier]

Which is the highly skilled, well-paid person?









Why do so many of us tend to respect the choices near the bottom more than the ones at the top?

I hate the word "grease monkey" and the connotations that go with it.

This poll is a bit more of a rant than a real poll...

[UdoKier]

1. Graphic Designers well paid? LOL!

Most of the graphic designers I know make shit pay...

I Went to design school and struggled at it for a couple of years, and finally switched to Japanese-English translation. It's still not big money, but much better hours and pay than GD work.

[4_Legs_Good]

2. Ignorance here: What's a "Ayurvedic Healing Teacher"

I'm clueless...

david

[KitchenWitch]

4. Think Ricky Williams! n/t

[UdoKier]

5. Form of Indian Holistic healing using herbal remedies, etc.

I just threw in something new-agey at random. Could've been "Yoga Instructor" or "Rolfing Expert"

[4_Legs_Good]

6. Gotcha!

thanks!

david

[Warpy]

12. HAHA!

Move to the desert southwest. This area is lousy with Aurvedic practitioners, Rolfers and crystal people. Their population is especially dense around the more tourist friendly areas like Santa Fe and Sedona.

In the meantime, a quick Google will give you the high points.

[Merlot]

3. Graphic Designer - NOT

Not only not well paid, but now it's only a matter of learning a few computer programs before calling your self a designer.

rant over

[Deja Q]

22. EXPENSIVE computer programs.

But I'm sure Adobe doesn't mind. :shrug:

[Ravenseye]

26. Calling Yourself a Designer Does Not Make You One

If I had a dime for every two bit hustler who thought they were a web designer I'd be rich. Seriously.

Graphic Design, Print Design, Web Design....any kind of design takes a creative talent to do well. I don't care how much you work with a program it'll take a long time to really learn the ins and outs of all the things you can do. Then, even after you've learned the 'techniques', it doesn't make you a good one. I've known so many people who thought the fact they could boot up a pirate copy of photoshop and add text to an image, meant they could do design.

comparing it to auto mechanics, it'd be like anyone could buy a few tools, and call themselves a mechanic. You bring your car to them with a bad muffler, and instead of doing the proper replacement or fix to the problem, they use duct tape and a couple of nails to hammer the tape on. It might work for a few miles, but pretty quickly you'll realize you've been had, or you're ignorant enough yourself that they can convince you that the bumping and knocking sounds you hear are normal.

[Hello_Kitty]

7. Plumbers make bank.

Ever had a pipe break in the middle of the night? You'll pay whatever it takes, trust me.

[Carni]

8. You must be a mechanic

I have long maintained that all the auto technicians (AKA grease monkeys to some) should all band together strike and say screw you, fix it yourselves.

Diagnosing and repairing today's cars requires more than some Gomer pulling engines out with tree branches in their yard.

The profession is dirty, filled with chemical hazards and if it involves diagnostics it requires a great deal of intelligence and skill.

I will join you in your rant (if that was your point)

Mechanics are GROSSLY under-rated, underpaid, scorned and generally shit on by the public.

[UdoKier]

10. I'm not a mechanic, I'm a Japanese-English translator.

But I know a few mechanics, and I have the highest respect for them.

I totally agree, and yess, that's the point of the thread.

(and no disservice intended to any of the careers listed.)

[Swamp Rat]

14. YOU are underpaid

My brother is a linguist (Finnish, Turkish, German, Spanish, Greek, Latin...) and gets paid less than most plumbers and electricians. Without him and others in his field, American hospitals would not have quality medical instruments from the best manufacturers, nor would the CIA know a goddamn thing the 'enemy' is plotting.

Though I am not one, I do think auto mechanics are underpaid. :(

[UdoKier]

16. I do a little better than those specializing in the romance languages

Spanish in particular can be outsourced to Latin American countries for just $.07/word, about half what I charge.

An awful lot of good people in this country are underpaid. In the meantime, blithering idiots like Bush and thugs like Rummy and Dick are ROLLING in (our) money.

[Swamp Rat]

17. Well, I am a romance language specialist and have NO employment

in this field. At least my bro can speak the languages of the Finno-Ugrian family, as well as a bit of Scandinavian, etc.

Believe it or not, I have found Portuguese much more useful than Spanish, academically speaking.

[Deja Q]

23. The good ones are. But the slop-artists at the local Valvoline rapid oil

make the impression that they're more inclined to fuck up one's car than to do a good job for $40.

[mcscajun]

9. And the Plumber and Electrician work can't be 'offshored'

Mamas...and Papas....don't make faces if your babies want to go to trade school instead of college.

[underpants]

25. True but in Va. anyone can be a "plumber"

It may surprise you (or it may not) that there is no certification for plumbers in our fine commonwealth. Anyone with a business license (and some without I am sure) can be hired as a plumber-GET REFERENCES!!

Electricians I believe are certified but I am not sure.

[DrWeird]

11. Do grease monkeys dislike the term "grease monkey"?

If I were a grease monkey I'd wear the name with pride.

[UdoKier]

13. I'm sure it depends on who is saying it and the way it's said.

I'm amazed when I hear dull-witted white suburbanite white-collar middle-management types dissing mechanics, etc, when they've never had an original thought and their skill set is comprised mostly of finessing clients, scrimping on office supplies and arranging meetings to discuss the new organizational chart.

Good mechanics are BRILLIANT, IMO.

[DrWeird]

15. Absolutely.

It's classism.

That said, I've met a few people who fall under the category of "grease monkey" that weren't exactly high school diploma material. But they weren't real mechanics, just the kids that change oil down in the pit at Jiffy Lubes.

[Carni]

21. Exactly!

To be ASE certified etc requires intelligence and skill--

Slapping parts on cars is a whole other thing but sadly the whole field gets dissed as being full of neanderthals and morons.

[serryjw]

18. GLAMOUROUS professions pay nothing....

when you start out.Advertising, market research, interior design, apparel industry...etc..pay NOTHING. People are just inpressed with what they THINK you do.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

19. Ahh! you have picked a sore subject with me

I am one of those "grease monkeys" you refer to. I resent the term and , frankly, I resent the attitude I get from most of the "suits" I come into contact with.
I am a union Sheet Metal Worker. My hourly pay including benefits is quite comfortable. On those rare occasions when I do side work, I charge a minimum of $1,000.00 per day and no one bats an eyelash. I have more work than I can handle but I like to believe that this is because I am very good at what I do.
I get simultaneously annoyed and amused when I have to work in a "suit" environment because they look at my work clothes and assume that I am just a dumb grunt. I laugh because I generally make about four times what they make and can discuss comparative religion, existentialism and most of the great artists, authors and philosophers with them to a degree well beyond their understanding of the subject, nonetheless, they treat me like some sort of servant class.
I think more of them should read Huxley. The tradesmen ultimately rule, and you are right, when your furnace fails in the middle of winter, you don't ask "how much", you ask "how soon!"

Sorry If I sound a little arrogant but I am really tired of being looked down upon by guys in clean clothes.

[UdoKier]

20. Kudos to you, and keep up the good work!

nt

[Deja Q]

24. Suits are vile bastards, no argument from me. But their clothes are not

clean. They're the dirtiest of all. Dirtied by the money they acquire. It's blood money.

[SmokingJacket]

27. I once had a revelation about suits...

I guess I was in college, where nobody wore suits. I saw a bunch of business guys and they looked odd and freaky: why the uncomfortable uniform, fellows?

Then I realized that I used to have an *instant* respect for someone wearing a suit -- I thought they must be worthy of respect if they looked like that! But the opposite was true.

They did nothing worthy of respect, so they had to try and impress you with their clothes.

Now when I see a bunch of people in business clothes, they strike me as frightened -- they're terrified that someone will discover they're just cogs in the wheel.

No disprespect meant to those of you who have to wear them! Because of course lots of people in suits do worthwhile stuff.

But a lot of USELESS people wear them to impress themselves and others. (Thinking specifically of some horrible bond-salesmen I worked for, who spent the whole day calling up old ladies and trying to part them from their life savings.)

Anyway, auto mechanics have been some of the coolest, most original thinkers I've ever met. It's disgusting how some in this country look down on people who work with their hands.

I've always thought that people who clean toilets and dig ditches should have the highest paying jobs, and members of sports teams the lowest. Because why PAY someone for having fun??

[UdoKier]

28. For the longest time, I've seen people in suits as more suspicious looking

Most of the worst liars, killers and thieves I've known of have worn suits.

I'm very grateful that my line of wok allows me to dress casually most of the time.