Society debate; Blue collar or White collar Jobs? What’s the way to go

Blue collar jobs,are the best ever BY IVAN R MUGISHAEverybody is dying to enjoy the comfort of an office, lean on the rotating chair while it massages your back, order for a hot cup of coffee and gaze at your cheque book at the end of the month. Graduates are facing this problem. They love the easy life; they fantasize about driving the strangest of cars and eating at the most expensive restaurants. So, they assume that the only way of getting this kind of life is through applying for a job where you will sit, stare at a computer and gain unwanted weight. Few of them know of the hardest but most paying and fulfilling career- the blue collar job. For those of you who are wondering what a blue collar job entails, well, start from a hired guard, a factory worker, plumber and so on. Ok. Perhaps you are saying am being sarcastic because even a journalist’s job is a white collar job and not blue. Some of you think am not the right man to be lecturing you on this, but rather perhaps a millionaire who has had to hustle first as a factory worker. Don’t forget that I spend most of the time in the field, hunting for news, running up and down nagging people for interviews. Therefore, my job is no where near a white collar description. See, there is a sense of accomplishment that is accompanied with blue collars, imagine a builder who passes by a very tall building. He smiles with pride knowing that he had a hand in the construction of such a beautiful scene. Secondly, a blue collar worker, perhaps a site builder, has more steady work hours unlike his typist counterpart. Usually, work is done in shifts, which gives a builder ample time to take on his other businesses elsewhere and then report to work for his shift. Besides that, consider the overtime payment. Whenever a blue collar worker works for more hours than usual, it is usually over his own free will and with very tasty compensation. Now, pity the blue collar worker whose boss wants to see company loyalty first, therefore, little or no compensation for working over time and no free will involved. A blue collar worker again avoids the stress that comes with working in one place for a very long time. He can switch places of work easily. A builder will look for another site when one construction is done. This also generates a sense of adventure which can save you from fatal illnesses like the “swinging chair obesity”- by this, I mean the people who gain mad weight because they are seated on a swinging chair from morning to evening. No dress code, no two days are alike, meet new people daily- that’s the beauty of a blue collar job. No one will come hurling at you for not wearing a tie or not tucking in your shirt while you work away at a mine. Besides that, everyday is challenging. Ask the white collar employees and they will tell you the fact; sometimes they report to work, go back home in the evening after a long day of nothingness. And if you think that’s too bad, stalk them the following day. Therefore, young people out there, stressing the soles of your shoes moving from street to street looking for someone pitiful enough to look at your CV might not yield much fruit. Try the construction sites and the factories which need more of your energy and also pay you. White collar jobs, less hassle and stress BY LILLIAN NAKAYIMAEver imagined why people toil hard to go to school? Why did you get that loan to pursue that master’s Degree? And why do you always love associating with learned and prominent people? Definitely it’s because you want to get that “white collar job.” Yes, a job that will earn you all the public respect and fascinate everyone on hearing what you do. If given a chance, I bet everyone would opt for a white collar job without taking much time to decide. Blue collar jobs will always be a secondary option; I should not be misunderstood if I term them jobs for failures. White collar jobs are described as salaried professions office jobs while blue collar, are jobs that require manual labor. Even the description is enough to make one prefer being a white collar worker. Can someone who sits in an office and does their work with computer help be compared to a person who passes the day under the sun running errands? I regard blue collar jobs some kind of curse, and when God cursed Adam out of Eden, he gave him a blue collar job. “Go till the land, and through your sweat, you will earn get food,” quotes Genesis. So why should a blessed person pass through lots of hassles to earn a living? And why should one even opt for a job that is not guaranteed? While a white collar job comes with a contract, a designed salary and allowances, blue collar workers work for a daily meal. Their earning depends on seasons since they earn daily. Blue collar jobs have earned themselves a reputation of being a “bailing means” for the uneducated pals. School dropouts will set up a little shop I hear to make a future. One keeps wondering why they quit school if they wanted that all rosy life. Believe it or not, jobs affect our social status. For instance, a waitress and lawyer will never be considered the same. An office job, earned following qualifications is far respected than a job any Tom, Dick and Harry can get. And in this dot.com generation, work is more about esteem, status and class. This is why people will give all they have to go to recognized universities. So when will you ever be recognized when you are selling charcoal at the market? And who will want to know you anyway? Definitely you will identify with the cheap colleagues at your work place and your chances will be limited. And do you want to ever marry from an influential family? Better take your hard work to school so you can earn an office job. No matter how much money you have, no reasonable parent will dare give you their daughter/son’s hand in marriage with that try and error blue collar job. And yes, you will work, year to year to satisfy other people’s needs while you suffer inside. Imagine garbage collectors who spend the entire month collecting all the filthy stuff from laid back people. Definetely they stand a high risk of infection while the people they serve are just in their bungalows safe.But truthfully, who would prefer suffering to earn a living yet there are millions of office jobs that need no hassles. Ends