Working class people check in

[Droopy]

I'm a truck driver.

In my free time I mow the lawn, do household chores, take medication, watch sports, write poetry, fuck off on my computer, and drink beer. Not necessarily in that order, but sometimes it probably is.

Here's to all the working class people out there who do the jobs that nobody else wants to do. :toast:

[auntAgonist]

1. I used to be a truck driver

and a truck driver trainer. Now I work digitizing microfilm and fiche.

b o r i n g

but it PAYS the bills :)

:hi:

[Droopy]

6. Digitizing microfilm and fische

is probably a lot easier on the body though. Trucking is rough on you, especially if you drive over the road.

[RandomKoolzip]

2. Line cook.

I've never made more than 20,000 a year in my whole life, but I still have never been tempted to vote republican.

[babylonsister]

3. Droopy, don't put yourself down!

Enjoy your free time; we do the same stuff, maybe w/o writing poetry! Party on without feeling bad!

[Droopy]

8. I'm not putting myself down

I'm proud to be a truck driver.

[leftofthedial]

4. I'm working (sort of) in between layoffs anyway

but I have no class, as everyone here at DU knows

I'd tip a brew to ya, but I had to quit drinking

[Not_Giving_Up]

5. Here!

I work in an office, but tend to get stuck with crapola jobs. Never made much over 22,000. In my spare time...wait...what the hell is that?

[mark414]

7. i am pretty young...but i think i count

UFCW local 1444 here...i cutup dead animals for a living

[BikeWriter]

15. I was a shop steward for Local 900 ICWU, we merged with...

your Union a number of years ago. :)

[mark414]

18. well hey there brother

and a belated happy may day to ya

[BikeWriter]

21. Thank you, Brother.

And a happy Cinco de Mayo Cinco to you, too. :)

[BikeWriter]

9. I'm a retired Chemical plant operator for a certain Fortune 500...

corporation whose first product was gunpowder. They built their plant walls collapsable so they could stand them back up and hire more help after their frequent explosions.

[Droopy]

10. LOL!

Now that's a rough job.

[BikeWriter]

17. They try to avoid killing so many workers now...

They hate bad publicity.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

11. I work a 2nd shift job making very good money ...

The money is good but the decision makers spew so much BS that its hard not to speak in French sometimes ;) I am thankful to have a job -its just the BS that I see on a day to day basis that gets to me .

[Droopy]

12. I know where you are coming from

Sometimes it seems like the people doing the grunt work have got more brains than the managers.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

19. Exactly !

I actually had to train myself . We have someone in my department who's main job is to TRAIN , but they never trained anyone . I had to figure an entire computer system on my own through trial and error . Plus , there are people working there who are just picking up a paycheck and since they have been there for years , they won't be replaced . Not fair . I have working there for 60+ days now . I have one more final evaluation once I hit my 90+ day mark - its Human Resources decision to see if I am worthy . I am not worried , I always make production and I do my work and more . There are some old hires who have yet to learn the computer system and they have been there for YEARS WTF . The new hires we constantly make production day in and day out , we work the hardest , do the most work but they can still get rid of us after 90 days if they feel we are not worthy . The old hires , they don't do anything but sit around and wait until lunch time . Will they be fired ? Nope . Its not fair .

And its not about what you know at my job , its WHO you KNOW ;) And I am not a person who kisses butt . If I have to kiss butt to get a another position than that position is not worthy .

Thank God for my CD player , its the only thing that brings me sanity while I am at work . If I run out of batteries , I can't deal LMAO . ;)

[Droopy]

22. You are true blue collar

Real working class people do not kiss butt. They just work their own off.

[Susang]

13. I ship motorcycle parts

Before that, I was a bartender/waiter/food service professional for almost 20 years.

My back is killing me tonight. How bout yours? :-(

[Droopy]

14. My back is feeling kind of rough, too

I think I may have pulled a muscle or two when I switched trailers.

Shipping, eh? So you are familiar with us truckers. I love the shippers that I work with. They are friendly and get me in and out with no headaches.

[Susang]

16. I have a close personal relationship with the UPS driver

He loves me 'cause I'm one of the few women in my department who helps load the truck. Actually, I'm one of the few women in my department! :D

[BikeWriter]

20. Motorcycle parts? Harleys, huh?

:)

[Susang]

42. Yup.

All the shiny chrome their little hearts can handle. ;-)

[BikeWriter]

46. It had to be Harleys, the only motorcycle.

:)

[madrchsod]

23. just got off work from the printing plant

THE BASTARDS TOOK OUT OUR DRINKING WATER. TOLD US WE WERE ABUSING THE WATER FILTERING MACHINE SO THEY TOLD US TO BUY BOTTLE WATER FROM THE MACHINES!!WE HAVE BECOME AN OFFICIAL SWEATSHOP.....only in america

[Droopy]

24. Hell no

I went to vocational school to learn how to be a printer and I did that for a couple of years after I graduated high school. Tell them fuckers it gets hot around them presses and you need all the water you can get. Are you union?

[MrSlayer]

25. I am an Electrical Construction Worker.

I don't know that I do a job no one else wants to do though. What I do know is that I've spent 6 months out of every year since Chimp got in on Unemployment.

Here's to all the working class people who are fortunate enough to have a job. :toast: And a double toast to those fucked by the cocksucking chimp and making it anyway they can. :toast: :toast:

[Droopy]

26. Alright, MrSlayer

My dad's an electrician for a steel mill. I hear you about getting fucked in Bush's economy. I've lost a day's pay every week because the customer that we mainly haul for had to cut back production due to lack of sales. Here's to better times :beer:

[tammywammy]

27. This is a deep secret of mine

that I one time told a few friends and they made fun of me.
But I've always wanted to drive one of those big trucks. Not necessairly as a job (I want to be an English teacher), but at least once. It's something about them, I would like to do it.

And as for the question.
I'm a receptionist. I've never made more than 18K a year in any job. I think I made 15K last year. But I like my job, and I'm also a college student.

[Droopy]

28. I think a lot of people would like to drive one of them trucks

just to see what it is like. My uncle who is a white collar guy has wanted to drive one of them big trucks since he was a kid and he's always asking me about my job when I see him.

Unfortunately you can't just hop in one and take it for a spin without some training. The size of the vehicle and manuevering it as well as the complex transmissions make it near impossible for the uninitiated to drive. But if you ever make it up to Ohio, I'd be happy to take you for a spin and tell you about all things trucking.

[tammywammy]

29. Oh, I know that I can't do it

I mean I've only driven an auto, never a manual transmission, in even a regular car.

But there's just something about them. It's a thankless job. All the little four wheelers hate you. But dear god, if there weren't people like you out there day in a day out, we wouldn't have anything. No groceries, no cars at the dealership I work at, no clothes, nothing. So, I respect those 18 wheelers on the road. I try (because I know it's happened a few times) to never cut them off (because it's dangerous for myself and the driver), and I try to not just sit along side them either (also dangerous on both our parts). I give them plenty of leeway, and just get out of their way.

And you know what, if I am ever in Ohio, I'm totally going to take you up on this offer! :)

[Droopy]

31. Cool

Thanks for being a considerate driver. We sure do appreciate that. :)

[tammywammy]

33. Hey, you should always be considerate of something bigger than you

said the mouse to the elephant. And that's how I think of the big rigs. Plus I remember in drivers ed them saying something about if an 18 wheeler's tire blows out and hits your car....blah blah blah you wreck and die. So I try and give them plenty of leeway.

It's good all around I think. :)

[xmas74]

30. 9-1-1 dispatcher and front desk clerk in a motel.

Yes, it takes two jobs for me to pay the bills.
Personally, I always wanted to be a writer or an attorney. Life is nothing like I envisioned it would be.

[Droopy]

32. Well, you know

Everybody who ends up in the blue collar world probably didn't think that they would end up there. When we are kids we are all going to be doctors, lawyers, actors and writers. And it's not that some of us do not have the talent or the intelligence to do those things, we just got the short end of the stick for some reason or the other.

[xmas74]

36. Mine was the short end of the stick.

I had the talent once. I was published in area papers in high school, wrote a couple of essays that won awards throughout my state and was always invited for various competitions. I just came from absolutely no money and had to work hard for everything. I just never had the time to really pursue it since I have always had to work (started washing dishes at a truck stop when I was 13. Babysitting, paper routes, odd jobs before then).
Someday I would love to just sit down, clear my mind and try to write again.

[Droopy]

37. I've got a feeling you will get there

Do you know that there is a writer's forum and a poetry forum? You ought to try your hand again and show us what you've got. We just started the poetry forum and I am active in that. We've got a lot of great poems in there already even though the forum is just a week or so old.

[xmas74]

38. I might have to try that sometime.

I was doing some writing recently for a small underground newspaper in my area. They had planned to publish about 10(!) of my articles over a short time period. They ran into money problems and closed shop before any of my material was published.
That's life.

[Beearewhyain]

34. Surveyor, construction, waiter, cook...

but I feel conflicted. After many years of working (in the south so no Unions) at various jobs I am now about to go to my graduation and I will have a degree. Can I still consider myself blue collar because I relate to the blue collar plight much better than I have with the plight of kids complaining that their parents did not send them enough money this month.

[Droopy]

35. We will make you an honorary blue collar guy

Because you have been there and know what we are all about. Congrats on the degree. I wish I could have done something like that myself and I tried, but I guess I just wasn't cut out for it.

[Beearewhyain]

39. Appreciate that but I have to admit that the degree is not all mine

If not for "the love of a good woman" I would never have been able to do it. My wife looked at me one day and said "You are not going to be happy unless you get your degree" and she supported me all the way (financially and otherwise) If it had not been for her and massive student loans this 30 something guy would never have gotten through. It had nothing to do with being "cut out for it"...I got lucky.

Beyond that, no matter what happens, the collar on my shirt will always be a little blue. ;)

[bridgit]

40. actors' equity - theater lighting tech here...

http://www.actorsequity.org

theater just laid off 10 people (people who have jobs do need to be a little more appreciative these days) for padding their time cards & slacking off. i realize it never seems to move quick enough when you come out as an intern (pls no monica jokes) but i had to. for years i had to. now there's only my home girl & me till the new season doing work from home that should have been done by others for no extra pay.

beer is a plus :thumbsup: always

[ConsAreLiars]

41. Take pride -- we do the work that makes life possible.

The petit bourgeois can whine about how life (or AAR or Dean or Clark or or whatever) is impure, but those of us engaged in real work know that you get from here to there one step at a time.

[bertha katzenengel]

43. secretary (does this count? I sure feel like it does; if not, pls excuse)

Like a character in a cherished book, I feel stuck between two worlds. I belong with working people: manual laborers, truck drivers, cooks, waitresses, janitors, gardeners.... yet here I sit at a desk. Harrumph. I'd rather be outside.

[deutsey]

44. From the working class (working poor, actually)

My mom was a diner waitress for most of my life; first stepfather was a short order cook (when he had a job). He also had a bad drug problem. Second stepfather was a lot better and was head of maintenance with the U of MD.

My grandmother worked in the shipyards during WWII; my grandfather was from a family of coal miners, farmers, railroad workers, in PA. He served in the Army during WWII and Korea. Was a fireman, too.

I was the first in my family to go to college and have a "professional" career.

I'll be presenting a paper on Mark Twain and his views of the working class in Connecticut Yankee this month at the Working Class Studies conference at Youngstown State University in Ohio.

[deutsey]

47. Link for Working Class Studies site

http://www.as.ysu.edu/~cwcs/

[Theres-a]

45. Waitress

looking forward to Mother's day...or as I like to call it "the Superbowl" of dining out.

[Jessica]

48. Well ...

I work in political public relations now - but I've been a gas station clerk, a motel cleaning lady and a waitress. My dad works for the coal mines & my mom cleans churches & other people's homes. Working class people make the world go round. And actually, the jobs I had before this one were much more fulfilling.

:hi:

[Mutley]

49. Retail here

I work in retail and go to school.

[Maestro]

50. We live paycheck to paycheck

Does that count?

[Wcross]

51. I work at a tire factory.

12 hour shifts on my feet all day running around fixing/adjusting tire machines. There isn't a day that goes by I don't get cut or bruised and banged up. I work a weird rotation and have to work this weekend (Fri,Sat & Sun)

[sharonking21]

52. Working class roots

My dad was a house painter with a 10th-grade education. He was also a union shop steward in Oklahoma City. I went to 14 different schools before college as we traveled around while he followed construction booms here and there. Often had to live with family when work was scarce and sleep in car on way to get shelter from family a long distance away. If it rained for a long period of time, we went hungry because he couldn't paint. Went to college at age 16 for 2 years at a junior college near my house but then couldn't afford to send me anywhere else. Took low-paying bottom level clerical jobs for a long time. Then when age 33 finally made it back to school and got BA, MA, and all-but-dissertation on my PhD. I owe my soul to Sallie Mae and I'm sixty-two years old. Worked as an epidemiologist-manager for 16 years at a public health agency--joined the union rather than the "professional" organization.

[Terran]

53. Janitor, convenience store clerk, hotel clerk...

I've done these jobs part time for ten years now to make ends meet. Although I've held a couple of jobs that were quasi-professional, including what I do now, I've also put in a lot of years as a file clerk, a secretary, and a copy editor (where I started out at $13,5000/year). I tend to think those count as 'working class'.