Blue Collar and Proud of It: The All-In-One Resource for Finding Freedom, Financial Success, and Security Outside the Cubicle by Joe Lamacchia, Bridget Samburg Read Free Book Online

for their home.
    Martin has been struck by howmany people take pride in visiting a local artisan and craftsperson who is creating something that will last hundreds of years. In what Martin calls a “throwaway culture, ” he sees clientswho “want somethingwith quality and personality.” That’s exactly what he delivers.
    Although Martin has done well pursuing the creative side of blacksmithing, he said it’s essential for anyone interested in the trade to learn the basics and the fundamentals and go from there. He says it’s a wonderful career option for someone who has both a creative side and a willingness to work hard and pay their dues. “You need a good strong work ethic, ” he adds.
    Having grown up on a farm, Martin was used to the hard work, so that was never a problemfor himas he was learning the blacksmithing trade.There aren’t many blacksmithing courses in NorthAmerica—in fact, Martin teaches one of them—but someone willing to do research can find a few in Canada and the United States.
    It’s the primal, back-to-basics elements of blacksmithing that most appeal to Martin. That, plus the creativity and the fact that he couldn’t be happier. “With some raw muscle power and some passion, you can create some amazing things.”
    The Service Sector
    I mentioned earlier that the government stopped classifying jobs as white collar and blue collar . But the classification service sector still largely applies to jobs such as law enforcement, firefighters, chefs, and nurses.Cops and firefighters have historically been considered blue collar, and quite literally police officers typically wear dark-blue-collared shirts as part of their uniform. But over the past decade or so, law enforcement jobs have become extremely sophisticated as security concerns and needs have intensified. Training is rigorous, and college degrees are often required to join a police department. Many police officers continue their education to get a master’s or additional training in criminal justice, terrorism prevention, or other specialties. Firefighters also face rigorous testing processes, and more and more departments are requiring college degrees. The same goes for chefs, many of whomgraduate fromculinary school. Some attend these culinary institutes after earning a four-year college degree.
    Frankly, there are a ton of guides and resources available to anyone interested in pursuing a career as a police officer, firefighter, chef, or nurse. Therefore, we aren’t going to tackle these in this book, but I did want to mention them since many people have historically thought of these jobs as blue collar. These are all incredible jobs, but if you want to go into one of these fields you won’t have trouble finding much in the way of guidance, books, and support.
    It’s Never Too Late
    I’ve met a lot of people who thought they had figured out a career for life in the white-collar world only to discover years into whatever they were doing that they wanted a change. Going from the white-collar world to a blue-collar job is certainly amajor adjustment, but for many of the people we talked to, it’s the best thing they’ve ever done. And really, it’s never too late to start something new.
    Robson Tyrermade a seemingly drastic leap when he went frompro-fessor to plumber in 1976.He was fed up with academia, didn’t see a stable professional future, and decided to try his hand at something else.He wasn’t even particularly mechanical. He had graduated from Princeton eleven years earlier where he majored in history. The son of physicians, Tyrer calls hismove a “radical departure” ; he decided to trade in theworld of professorships (hewas teachingMexican history at San Francisco State at the time) for that of plumbing. “I left the academic world without any serious regrets, ” says the sixty-five-year-old ex-academic.
    “Plumbing was entirely by accident, ” explains Tyrer, an Oakland, California, resident who spent seven