To the blue-collar men, who, to earn extra money to support themselves and their families, forgo a comfortable desk job in favor of jobs few would do: from cleaning our sewers so we can flush our toilets and eradicating rats from our basement so we don't get diseases to precariously trying to stop our roofs from leaking.
To the men who protect us. For example, the media is careful to call firefighters "firefighters" rather than "firemen" but I've now looked at dozens of photos of the firefighters attempting to stop the 55,000-acre Colorado fire. All are men. And in the 9/11 terrorist attack, 343 fire (ahem) fighters died. All were men.
To the men who protect us. For example, the media is careful to call firefighters "firefighters" rather than "firemen" but I've now looked at dozens of photos of the firefighters attempting to stop the 55,000-acre Colorado fire. All are men. And in the 9/11 terrorist attack, 343 fire (ahem) fighters died. All were men.
To the white-collar men who, to earn extra money to support themselves and their families, endure long, difficult technical training and/or uproot themselves to some God-forsaken place every few years.
To the professional men like physicians who, to earn more money for themselves and their families, choose a high-stress, highly demanding specialty such as surgery, where they often must be awakened in the middle of the night for an emergency surgery rather than choose one of the more pleasant specialties with regular hours like pediatrics or general practice.
To the men who serve and die in the military. Their modest extra combat pay doesn't compensate for the risk. Although the media is careful to always say the men and women serving in the military, 98% of the military deaths are men.
Yes, women earn 77 cents on the dollar, but there are reasons other than "We live in a sexist patriarchy that suppresses women."
Yes, women earn 77 cents on the dollar, but there are reasons other than "We live in a sexist patriarchy that suppresses women."
To all the hard-working men that must endure the media's and colleges' endlessly portraying men as overpaid and inferior to women, today on Father's Day at least, and at least from this writer, I salute you.
A Story:
ReplyDeleteBack in 1976, when I got out of High School, I went to work for a printing company. I was working in the press room as a helper on a big 2color 38" press. The company was started in the 1920's and was owned by the local newspaper. The place looked like it hadn't changed a bit since then. They were even still using Linotype machines to set type for God's sake. All the guys who worked there had gotten out of the service after WWII or the Korean war and had gone back to school to learn printing using the GI bill. They had then gone to work for Rubidoux Printing and had been there ever since. These guys were what you could call "real company men". They would work their fingers to the bone from sun-up to sun-down and never complain. The pay was lousy, but the company was on of those old fashion companies who never laid anybody off and tried to take care of its employees. The employees, in turn, reciprocated with complete loyalty and dedication to their work.
I tell you this, because men like that are a vanishing species. I believe that it was the work force made up of such men that helped make America rich and powerfull. And now they are just being thrown away like old rubbish.
Further more, once that sort of work ethic is gone it will be gone for good.
I agree with Anonymous. Those men are a dying breed. I learned to have a work ethic from my father, who grew up dirt-poor, but retired from the military and Civil Service, all because of hard work.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
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