I have never wanted to move above my station.
Coming from a blue-collar upbringing I appreciated the values my father’s selfless life instilled in me.
I appreciate that many, many people wanted to improve their lot in life. I never had that ambition.
When I studied those who had “moved ahead” what I saw was a hint of falseness, a necessity to fit in, to “better oneself”
Almost as if they were slightly ashamed to come from a working-class background.
No such qualms with me. I am proud to be of working-class stock. To have gotten my hands dirty, to have contributed sweat in an industrialised society.
Maybe my own bias has shaped how I see the world and the classes we are all a part of.
Yes, I have looked down on a whole section of society, those “above me”, many a time, in my mind I would say of those sitting behind a desk, or a counter, “what you do is not real work.”
You do not and have never gotten your hands dirty, you have never sweated or toiled for 10 hours a day, only to collapse from exhaustion when arriving home.
Oh, that sounds a little nasty when I reread it.
But then I am only writing what is inside me. I have no malice to those who strive and have striven to improve their lot in life.
Everyone must do what they see fit to get through life with as little grief as possible.
Yes, my working-class background saw me encounter many pitfalls, almost brought me undone if truth be told.
Would I have wanted an easier life? Sure, but it was never to be. Without the ambition to “move up” I had to make the best of what I had.
Here I am, retired, with no meaningful possessions and debt free.
Life might become a little more trying as I move into my dotage, so be it. It is far too late to change the direction my life’s journey has led me because I am not prepared to put in the work required for such an adventure.
What I have written is something that needed to come out. Why not share it with fellow members?
It might engender introspection in some of you.
I notice a touch of bitterness in your text although you say you’re basically content with you life and wouldn’t have wanted to change it. Why would you evaluate jobs and “look down” on white collar workers thinking their work is no real work which implies that those jobs are superfluous and the world would be a better place if everybody had a manual job?
Why not acknowledge that all jobs are necessary and need to be done by someone? As long as there’s someone who provides paid jobs for people it means there’s a demand for the services offered. The insurance business may serve as one of many examples. Can it be done away with since it’s people behind desks, not sweating, and not getting their hands dirty? What makes you think they lead a better life?
Just my thoughts Dachs, no more.
As written above - I have no malice to those who strive and have striven to improve their lot in life.