Mike Rowe

One thing I absolutely did NOT want to do with this blog is start writing silly pie in the sky kind of "thank yous."  You know, like "Brad Pitt, thank you for being so good looking" or "Katie Holmes, thank for making the day of every woman getting divorced...you are our hero!" I use to hang with somebody who worked for celebrities.  Based on his stories, I think they are a creepy weird bunch.  However, I came across something today that I felt was thank you worthy.

Let me come clean right now....I had no idea who this man was until a Facebook friend "shared" a post by him.  When I went to his website, the Mike Rowe Works Project, I became all about Mike Rowe.  If you read my May 31st post, you know why.  I am sure that I am the only person in North America who isn't already familiar with the project.  But just in case, here is an explanation directly taken from his website:

"The mikeroweWORKS Foundation is concerned with promoting hard work and supporting the skilled trades in a variety of areas. Primarily, we award scholarships to young men and women who have illustrated both an interest and an aptitude around mastering a specific trade. Qualified candidates include those students who are part way through an accredited trade school or apprenticeship program, and need financial assistance."

I am a school based speech language pathologist working with students ages 3 to 22.  College, college, college is all I ever hear anybody say.  I am supposed to be cramming this down the throats of my students as well as my own children.  When Josey was in 6th grade, she came home distraught over a single grade, on a single test, in a single class that was lower than she had hoped.  I knew she had studied.  This particular kind of test just happened to be hard.  When I told her I wasn't mad because I knew she had studied and tried her best, her response was, "You don't understand!  If I don't get good grades, I won't get into a good college like Harvard."  At that point I explained that, first, as a single mother recently returned to the work force I didn't have the money for her to go to Harvard.  Second, statistics show that Harvard gets you more money upon graduation, but the further you are from your graduation date, the more it becomes about proving your ability.  Really.  This is a conversation I had with my child WHO WAS IN 6TH GRADE!!!!!!  Obviously, her concerns over higher education did not come from me.

Here is the thing.  I have a masters degree.  My ex-husband has a high school diploma.  I currently make 25% of what he makes.  (That sound you just heard was any recent college graduate looking at his or her student loan bill and crying out in pain.)  That is not to say that I regret my degree.  It is a prerequisite in order to be a speech language pathologist.  Since that is what I wanted to be when I grew up, at 38, I had to get one.  That doesn't mean a college degree is necessarily the key to lifetime happiness for every human being on the planet.  I think being paid to do something you enjoy is the key to happiness.  Not birthday party, cake and ice cream happiness.  I mean satisfied with your life and secure in who you are happiness.

Today Mr. Allan came to fix my dishwasher.  He is an appliance repairman.  We have been through 3 homes together.  I remember him telling me once that we are closing in on the last generation of people who know how to fix and build things.  When the gasket on my dishwasher came loose and spewed water all over my kitchen, I was sorry I didn't know how to fix things.  The check I wrote him was far less than the cost of a new dishwasher, but definitely a nice chunk of change for about 20 minutes of work.  Reality?   He makes more in an hour than I do. It's a good think I feel satisfied and secure as a speech language pathologist.

Mr. Rowe, thank you for raising awareness about skilled labor.  It is high time we returned that term to mean respectable employment instead of 2nd class citizen.