Blue-collar Workers: Definition And Features

The article 'Blue-Collar Brilliance.' published in The American Scholar by Mike Rose is about blue-collar workers. An example of blue-collar workers are people who hold jobs in restaurants or factories. People who work with their hands but still must use problem-solving skills to do their job correctly are blue-collar workers. Mike Rose gives a child's view of his mother working as a waitress and his uncle working as a foreman at the railroad. These jobs appear to be simple, yet Rose realizes as an adult that they are not simple at all. Blue-collar jobs are not simple jobs because they require physical exertion as well as mental alertness sometimes simultaneously.

Rose comments about understanding blue-collar work require both body and brains in his essay. Blue-collar work is both physically and mentally demanding. Working as a waitress required his mother to be on her feet for long hours and to coordinate and remember many tasks. Being a waitress requires carrying many items at once such as several plates of food to be delivered to tables, remembering which customer ordered which food, refill drinks for people already eating while taking orders from new customers, keeping track of how long it takes the kitchen to prepare the food so customers aren't waiting too long all the while being kind and courteous. One example is given by Rose that waitressing requires both body and brain is that his mother juggled seven to nine tables with two to six customers each. This task alone requires patience and timing to keep the process of serving a perfect meal seamless and meet the customer's expectations. In this type of blue-collar job, the employee must learn ways to remember which customer ordered which meal, how to minimize trips from tables to the kitchen, and how to be as efficient as possible. The profession of diesel technicians will also be physically and mentally demanding. Performing maintenance on diesel trucks is a physically demanding position and will also require critical thinking skills to diagnose problems with trucks. Fixing things right the first time will be important since having to redo any task is wasting the employer's time and money. Employers expect their employees to be efficient when performing their job duties. Blue-collar jobs require both physical labor and mental efficiency.

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'Generalizations about intelligence, work, and social class deeply affect our assumptions about ourselves and each other, guiding the ways we use our minds to learn, build knowledge, solve problems, and make our way through the world.' (Rose, n.d.) It is common for high school graduates whose parents have the resources to send their children to college and the students whose parents do not have the resources either go to trade schools or enter the world of work taking whatever type of job they can find usually a blue-collar job. This is the reason that society assumes lower class people or people who make less money work in blue-collar jobs and people who attend college work in white-collar jobs. The world has evolved, and education is now more accessible and, in some cases, more affordable giving opportunities to people who previously could not afford college the chance to get an education. Thus, lower class or people who do not make a lot of money get the chance to go to college and get white-collar jobs instead of having to settle for blue-collar jobs. Some people come from poor neighborhoods, who barely had good enough grades to graduate, or didn't graduate high school who can now get a GED, get into college and obtain doctorate degrees thanks to more affordable education and remote learning opportunities. There are now people who once thought they would never have white-collar career opportunities that can reach their dreams of becoming doctors or lawyers instead of having to settle for being factory workers or waitresses. Social class no longer dictates how we perceive ourselves or how the world perceives us. Intelligence and the way people learn no longer dictate career fields. Learning opportunities are now endless with cell phones and the internet. Rose is mistaken to think that intelligence, work, or social class affect the assumptions about people because education has evolved.

The first claim made by Rose in his essay relates to the use of mathematics. Rose states that in most workplaces working with numbers is common. An example of working with numbers would be taking measurements such as pressure or temperature. Ingredients on labels, spreadsheets, the number of items produced, or the cost of an item would be examples of working with numbers. Some factory jobs require the worker to verify calculations, check the accuracy of a machine, or collect data and analyze it. Carpenters need to constantly measure to be sure they are building items accurately and waitresses must fill out tickets for meals served. Rose is correct in claiming that numbers are common in most workplaces. Many blue-collar jobs require the use of mathematics and the workers in those jobs can verify that fact. Some examples of those jobs are waitresses, carpenters, machine operators, cabinetmakers, sales associates, truck drivers, millwrights, assemblers, a construction worker. Another claim made by Rose is that physical work does not require a high literacy level and that blue-collar jobs require more reading. This statement sounds contradictory because blue-collar jobs that require reading would also require the worker to be literate or able to read. As Rose states many routine tasks involve reading such as understanding production quotas, learning to use an instrument, following an instruction manual, or applying a product. Waitresses and cooks in restaurants need to be able to read customer food orders and factory workers need to be able to read instruction manuals. Some professions have their own set of abbreviations or a set routine where reading instructions or test results could become a routine activity in which no real literacy would be required once the employee learns the work. However, a certain amount of literacy would be required to learn such a job. Most employers of blue-collar workers require potential employees to take competency exams to prove that they have basic reading and math skills that will allow them to do the work required. If employees cannot read and understand they will not be able to do their job accurately and will most likely cost the employer money with their mistakes.

Blue-collar jobs require both physical exertion and mental prowess. Blue-collar workers are constantly thinking of ways to do their jobs quicker, better, or easier while still doing a good job. Employers count on these employees to find ways to be more efficient and save money to increase profits and keep customers happy. Blue-collar jobs are important jobs that keep the economy growing.