In hindsight I would have been much happier, healthier and wealthier if I had just gotten a construction job or something after HS instead of torturing myself through a CS degree lmao
I work in IT, and I’ve sometimes thought maybe I should’ve gone into construction or something that doesn’t have such a breakneck pace of changing technology.
What was working in construction like, and how does it compare to your IT job now?
Backbreaking is the best way to describe working construction. We did general framing/siding/roofing, and my body hurt every day after I was done. I went into IT specifically for the mental challenge, and because I saw how my uncle and grandfather’s bodies were broken by a lifetime of construction and didn’t want to deal with it for myself.
I’ll gladly take learning new skills constantly over breaking my body.
Not the person you asked, but I grew up in a rural blue collar area. Construction beats up your body, and even with the right PPE you are at high risk of injury from accident or simple repetitive stress injuries. The work is often exposed to the elements, on stressful timetables, with pressure to work long hours.
Some of the trades can be better, but many have the same issues I listed above. Lots of people in trades or construction feel 60 at 40 from beating their body up.
I’ve grown up doing hard manual labor most of my free time and let me tell ya, I vastly prefer that over taking exams and being stressed 24/7 for years.
In hindsight I would have been much happier, healthier and wealthier if I had just gotten a construction job or something after HS instead of torturing myself through a CS degree lmao
Having worked construction for a few years before getting my IT degree:
[X] Doubt
Yep. Was a welder, now a software dev. There are pros and cons to both, but overall I’m way happier now.
That said, this is anecdotal - different strokes and all that.
I work in IT, and I’ve sometimes thought maybe I should’ve gone into construction or something that doesn’t have such a breakneck pace of changing technology.
What was working in construction like, and how does it compare to your IT job now?
Backbreaking is the best way to describe working construction. We did general framing/siding/roofing, and my body hurt every day after I was done. I went into IT specifically for the mental challenge, and because I saw how my uncle and grandfather’s bodies were broken by a lifetime of construction and didn’t want to deal with it for myself.
I’ll gladly take learning new skills constantly over breaking my body.
Thank you for sharing!
Not the person you asked, but I grew up in a rural blue collar area. Construction beats up your body, and even with the right PPE you are at high risk of injury from accident or simple repetitive stress injuries. The work is often exposed to the elements, on stressful timetables, with pressure to work long hours.
Some of the trades can be better, but many have the same issues I listed above. Lots of people in trades or construction feel 60 at 40 from beating their body up.
Thank you for sharing!
I’ve grown up doing hard manual labor most of my free time and let me tell ya, I vastly prefer that over taking exams and being stressed 24/7 for years.
It’d be nice if we didn’t have to pigeon-hole ourselves into one skillset in order to survive.
But think of the shareholders!
Classic case of grass is greener on the other side.
Yep. The grass is greenest where you water it.