Knowing one's station in life

January said:
we don't in Australia either - not sure why OP used that phrase.
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What else would I have used?
I think is explains what I wanted to convey.
Most everyone knows the meaning of "Station in Life"
It was used as a heading for my post.
Instead of simply stating "I come from a working-class background"
I think it is an appropriate heading.
 

BJintheUK said:
I left school in May 1966, and my first job was working for Ashton Containers in Bristol. They made all the cigarette packets for Will's Tobacco, who had a large cigarette factory in Bedminster, Bristol. The job I had was stripping cardboard. By that I mean that when a box is cut from a large sheet of card, there are inevitably bits of cardboard that don't form part of the box.
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Sounds like fascinating work! 🤣

One of my first jobs was working in a factory that made tape. I was responsible for loading paper rolls onto a machine that made the cardboard center that the tape was wrapped around... also very fascinating work! It paid just over minimum wage. I was the only White guy on the entire floor, but the other workers were cool. Some had worked there for 15 or so years, doing the same menial work, over and over, day after day, year after year...

I worked at that job for about six months and then moved to another part of the country where there were better jobs.
 
Bretrick said:
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.
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My family was poor and in the beginning I couldn’t conceive of doing any kind of work that wasn’t physical. I didn’t go to college to improve myself or raise my station in life. But I was lucky to pursue what I thought to be a real education just out of curiosity about what the big ideas and discussions had been down through history. Weird but without enriching me financially it has nonetheless improved my appreciation of life many times over.

My youngest brother can only see getting a piece of paper that will open the door to a lucrative career as worthwhile but can’t understand the inherent value of an education. It wasn’t something anyone did in my family but I somehow managed to do it with the inspiration and support of a few professors I clicked with.

It would be much less likely nowadays with education much more expensive and well paying work to support it much harder to come by.
 
Bretrick said:
What else would I have used?
I think is explains what I wanted to convey.
Most everyone knows the meaning of "Station in Life"
It was used as a heading for my post.
Instead of simply stating "I come from a working-class background"
I think it is an appropriate heading.
Click to expand...

I guess because it implies snobbery and condescension - has that vibe for me anyway.

Only ever heard it used here in tongue in cheek jesting sort of way.,
 
I remember reading the actor Michael Caine's autobiography. In it he stated his father worked in the Fish Markets in London. It "was hard work and he used to pinch a nice fish to take home every week". He told Michael to never try to rise above his
"Station In Life", and if it was good enough for his father it would be good enough for him, but Michael had grand ideas in
the acting scene. Just imagine if he did listen to his father, we would never have enjoyed his acting career.
My father after finishing boarding school decided to become a Boiler Maker, because his deceased father worked on steam trains and he wanted to do what his dad did. He did his apprenticeship and graduated as a Boiler Maker, which paid paltry
wages all his life. He was excellent in Maths and English, and he said he should have become an Accountant like his eldest
brother.
 
I never wanted to be like my parents. I'm not unhappy about coming from a working class background, but what I couldn't understand was their lack of ambition and determination to do better for themselves and the family. It was up to us to improve our lot and along with neighbour's children, we studied, went to university and got a good jobs. With my own and my siblings children, pursuing a professional career in medicine, law etc., was more or less taken for granted.
 
January said:
But then again university isnt for everyone and plenty of good job pathways i n trades.

I don't think that is a station in life or following parents thing - just alternative job pathways suit different people.

and qualified tradespeople are paid quite well here.
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Same here. If I wanted to be rich, I would have been an electrician or a plumber. My daughter, who is a university professor, discovered this when she needed a plumber to fix a water leak in her house. Sensibly, she observed what he did and was able to replace a defective valve on my central heating system. She didn't charge me too much because I'm a pensioner :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
againstthegrain said:
Much respect to you and all the graduates of our military colleges. Being accepted and then graduating from a US military college is no small accomplishment. They typically turn out top flight people and somehow after reading your posts over time I'm not surprised to find you are a Naval Academy grad.

I am somewhat familiar with West Point since 2 of my best friends father's were graduates and other connections I made when I lived near WP.
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I was given a 50 cent tour of West Point when I went along with a friend I met after graduation at the War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He invited me to ride along with him to visit a friend of his. I was fascinated by the beautiful country in that area, not to mention the campus of WP, which was in some ways very similar to the Academy.

I liked the Army Sports Hall of Fame that was built in honor of many of Army’s best athletes. I especially enjoyed reading the scripts beneath their names. I guess my favorite was Doc Blanchard, who was a football hero during his career. Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis were probably 2 of the best football players to have ever played at Army.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Same here. If I wanted to be rich, I would have been an electrician or a plumber. My daughter, who is a university professor, discovered this when she needed a plumber to fix a water leak in her house.
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Back in the mid 1970, a doctor friend with an OB/GYN private practice was telling me about some emergency plumbing work that was done on his house. He said, "This guy makes $50 per hour, charges for travel time, and doesn't have to pay malpractice insurance. I went into the wroooong business."
 
StarSong said:
Back in the mid 1970, a doctor friend with an OB/GYN private practice was telling me about some emergency plumbing work that was done on his house. He said, "This guy makes $50 per hour, charges for travel time, and doesn't have to pay malpractice insurance. I went into the wroooong business."
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I've noticed the trend has changed.. it wasn't too far in the past that the emphasis was on education.. more recently, though, it's changed to skilled trades.
 
Sunkist said:
This book is an eye-opening experience.. originally published in Jan. 1959, other than specs about salaries, cost of living, etc., it's as relevant and accurate now as it was back then.

From my wide range of experiences, class differences are more about lifestyle differences than about a person's job or income.. and lifestyle differences are HUGE. View attachment 480731

(This book is still available on Amazon, etc.)
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Funny you should bring up Vance packard. I was just thinking about him. Can't remember which book but one point I recall is that most people are happier when surrounded by people who have less, rather than more, than they.
 
StarSong said:
Back in the mid 1970, a doctor friend with an OB/GYN private practice was telling me about some emergency plumbing work that was done on his house. He said, "This guy makes $50 per hour, charges for travel time, and doesn't have to pay malpractice insurance. I went into the wroooong business."
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He could always switch careers.

A gynecologist had become fed up with malpractice insurance and HMO paperwork, and was burned out. Hoping to try another career where skillful hands would be beneficial, he decided to become a mechanic. He went to the local technical college, signed up for evening classes, attended diligently, and learned all he could.
When the time of the practical exam approached, the gynecologist prepared carefully for weeks, and completed the exam with tremendous skill. When the results came back, he was surprised to find that he had obtained a score of 150%. Fearing an error, he called the Instructor, saying, “I don’t want to appear ungrateful for such an outstanding result, but I wonder if there is an error in the grade?”
“The instructor said, “During the exam, you took the engine apart perfectly, which was worth 50% of the total mark. You put the engine back together again perfectly, which is also worth 50% of the mark.”
After a pause, the instructor added, “I gave you an extra 50% because you did it all through the muffler, which I’ve never seen done in my entire career.”
 
The notion of class never applied to my life because I existed outside normal social environments, out of awareness of what else was beyond, and had other issues I won't discuss, far more dominant. As a K12 school kid, unfortunately starting school a year early, I was always the youngest and smallest male in every grade school class I was in. That was within 100% white middle class California suburbs that in this era of ethnic diversity is greatly different. And because my father in military defense and space industries moved frequently, I never had roots and went to 10 different schools starting out each time ignored without friends.

As an adult outside of work, have socially lived in the Counterculture world of the San Francisco Bay Area where I have always had respect just by my verbally confident manner, and style. So as an adult that has otherwise thrived in some ways I personally value, while avoiding mainstream society, have had rather a critical view of its social realms, the Military Industrial Complex, materialism, our political system, and generally much others care about.
 
Bretrick said:
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.
Click to expand...
I came from a blue collar background. I have had relationships with people from all walks of life. I feel I have always been more comfortable around blue collar workers. I've dated a doctor, a lawyer, factory workers and everyone in between. When ever I was around the three piece suit types, I always felt phony and couldn't let my hair down so to speak. I've always had blue collar jobs (waitress, NA. hospital secretary, and LPN.) Although the jobs might not be impressive, I've always had a good work ethic and have made a decent living. It didn't make me rich, but I am comfortable and that's really all I ever wanted.

There's nothing wrong with how you've lived your life. We can't all be doctors, lawyers, CEO's, etc.. Blue collar workers are the backbone of society and nothing to be ashamed or regretful of.
 

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