Stoop Labor, I hate that term

It seems to portray the work as demeaning, anyone doing it as low class, trash, or unfit for any other job. I guess I am a dinosaur talking, but work is work. The term labor is used, but it is still just plain work. You get paid to work. some jobs pay more than others. Growing up I did not know what entry level jobs meant, as matter of fact I don’t think those terms had not been coined.  Everyone knew that some jobs would not pay enough to buy a house, support a family or even buy a car.  Some jobs were beginner’s jobs.

You took one of those so you could have a work history. A History to show you were dependable. You could be counted on to be on the job EVERY DAY.  Then if you were ambitious enough, you started checking out other jobs that paid more. My daddy had the opinion that if you were getting paid 50 cents an hour and wanted more, you had better put out 75cents an hour’s worth of work; And after awhile the boss will notice and recommend you for a raise.

No one I knew expected their first job to be much more than a stepping stone. Since living in Florida I have learned a lot about labor jobs. Seasonal work and Temporary labor. Picking fruit pays $9.50-$11 an hour. We have many folk on welfare and unemployment who will not touch those jobs, they can make more tax free than working.  I have always preferred to work. One company has had only two US citizens apply for work, one lasted a day the other a week. Most folk do not want to work, they want a check.

And yes, before someone bites my head off about there is no advancement, there is. Men go from picking fruit to working on construction. Some real ambitious folks will form their own picking crews.  Some start their own landscape companies after working at the job for a year or so.

Anyway, I read that term ‘STOOP LABOR’ the other day and it irked me. My daddy did it, my kin folk done it in their early years and were proud of the steps they made to success. Merchants, truck owners/drivers, ministers, and real estate folks. All from down on the farm where ‘Stoop Labor’ is common.  I am not talking about me, but I am the product of a family who was not afraid of work.

It wouldn’t have hurt some of the lawyers and politicians I have known, to have done a little stooping.

Okay, off the soap box and glad you chose to come by the log.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Life sometimes gives you a second chance, take it!

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Zaglemeyer Kampcar, around 1920. Built on the T-model Frame in Bay City, Michigan. The slideout was way ahead of it’s time. Betcha it was CCCold.