Journal #2 Plumbers and Reading

In our last class discussion I lamented about the decline of the blue collar worker due to the demands of higher education among all working people. Specifically, I used the example of my uncle and father-in-law who were plumbers themselves. However, upon further reflection I realize I really only told the class half of the story.

My uncle, Tom, followed my grandfather into the plumbing business. My grandfather owned his own business and my grandmother was the secretary/bookkeeper. Just as my husband had done with his father, my uncle spent summers and holidays working for his dad as an assistant. My husband often said he could not turn his father down, he paid him well and was a fair boss compared to other teen jobs.

Here is where the stories cease to merge..my uncle went on to become a plumber himself, though never opening his own business. My husband never got his journeyman's license and went to college for engineering. This is where the importance of reading and writing does indeed enter into the career of a plumber (aside from whatever professional testing may occur). My uncle was applying for a job at a major pharmaceutical company outside Chicago, this job would have been a staff position for the company working in their facilities and offering what I can only guess would be good benefits and the other perks that go along with major corporate employment in the early 80's. He interviewed, but to actually be offered this job he had to pass a basic reading and math test. Needless to say he did not pass and was not offered this job. Feeling embarrassed and humiliated, he never spoke about it again. This man in his 40's could not pass a rudimentary reading test and missed out on the benefits that were still offered by corporate culture in the 80's. Today he has retired early on disability.

My father in law owned his business and worked at it diligently until he burned out on it in the late 70's. Most of his bookkeeping was done off the books and cash often passed under the table with no paperwork attached. This was common in this field in his day. But I'll never forget one Christmas when I was dating my husband and we went to visit him on his organic farm (turns out he had always wanted to be a farmer anyway!), we decided to play Scrabble in lieu of television. My father-in-law, as it became painfully obvious, could not spell! It took him many many minutes to Scrabble out three letter words. He didn't really read the paper or novels and I wonder now if it was because of lack of skill.

I can now honestly say after reflecting on our class discussion and my comments that its clear how in my family, the skill of reading (or lack thereof) has truly changed the course of people I know. It makes me sad to think of the benefits my uncle could have retired with, or the novels my father in law will never read because of this void in their education. I'm just grateful they were able to make by with the skill levels they possessed.