"F.O.A.D." wrote in message ...


It's always a chuckle when those without college degrees knock
those who
have them.


I always chuckle when guys who went into the navy instead of college
and
have no B.A. or B.S. knock on the doors of the houses in the 'hood and
ask if they can pump out the septic tanks or clear out the brush. We
have a contractor for the former who comes by every couple of years to
check on the septic tanks and pump them out if needed.

-------------------------------

Union trained, of course.

I don't know what has happened to you over the years Harry. I've
been a subscriber to rec.boats since 1995 .... that's 18 years ago.
You've were always an advocate of unions (probably because for at
least a while most of your bread and butter came from supporting union
activities) but you were never so dismissive or outright negative
about people who choose other paths in life.

Same with education and college. You are obviously very proud of
your multiple degrees but that doesn't mean that those who didn't
focus on academia and chose to get the education required for a
specific type of job aren't just as accomplished or smart as you think
you are. In fact, given what doors your educational background would
open for you for right now, a technical degree or a specialized
vocational school diploma would be far more useful if you were just
starting out in your working career.

Although you love to be critical of your perceived lack of education
or qualification in others, statistics prove you wrong.

Roughly 70 percent of the population today do not have a college
degree. A higher percentage are not members of any unions.
There are plenty of highly skilled, well trained tradespeople making a
good living without benefit of a union.
Same is true of people who didn't go to college and either learned a
trade or learned by doing the requirements for "professional" level
jobs ... company managers, accountants, even presidents.

Are they all to be scoffed at by someone like you who's apparent main
achievement in life was obtaining a couple of degrees?

I am really sorry to see you becoming so intolerant in your more
advanced years. You weren't like this 18 years ago. It's really the
time to chill out, relax a bit and start developing an appreciation
for the achievements of others, even if it was just plugging away,
raising a family and trying to survive.

My father-in-law doesn't have much of an education. He grew up in
East Boston and left school in the sixth grade.
After WWII he got married, worked several jobs, moved to the suburbs,
bought a house and raised two fine girls while plugging away working
all his life. He never wanted more than he could afford, never had a
credit card and never had a car payment. His only debt was the house
he bought and he paid it off early. He had old, beater boats that he
fixed up himself and enjoyed his life. He's still around, at 90 years
old.

My father went to school after WWII, became an engineer in the field
of non-destructive testing and also got married and raised three kids.
He travelled often, became involved in some major projects in
aerospace, defense and commercial programs that were often stressfull.
Like my father-in-law, he worked hard, mostly for the benefit of his
family. He died when he was 72, three years into "retirement".

When I was about 50 it finally dawned on me that each in their own way
were successful, accomplished men, regardless of the level of their
respective educations.

You really need to chill out and enjoy whatever time you have left on
this planet.