Dear Desk Jockeys

Comment I made on a Facebook post here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/5V3mHh9EqUjxUASd/?mibextid=qi2Omg

So, I'm going to say something that will probably be unpopular, but I'm getting tired of people calling some jobs/careers as simply manual labor and "menial", as if working as a CEO in an office is some glamorous thing that designates you as the pinnacle of society. I've worked in office jobs and much prefer the "low-skill" "entry-level" jobs that apparently require zero skill according to whoever writes up job descriptions. Probably some suit in an office desk job who has never had to work directly with the public in some menial no-skill job like McDonald's where you even have to clean the restrooms and floors—oh the horror! Can you imagine? Having to clean the restroom of peoples icky germs? Omg, so gross, like totally!!

Anyhow, as someone with formal education who has worked in office jobs, retail, factories, cleaning jobs, waste management, and food service... I much prefer those "menial" jobs that require "minimal-no skill". In fact, those jobs are much more challenging compared to many of the "high-skilled" fancy desk jockey jobs as you are forced to deal with real-world scenarios in real-time as you interact with an unpredictable public, environment & other unforeseen/unpredictable circumstances while also ensuring to maintain an efficient business flow, keep up on food preparation, maintain supplies, ensure food and drinks are appropriately served to the appropriate customer, and ensure the place stays clean. Oh, and did I mention routinely having to deal with unruly customers who make things unpleasant and uncomfortable for other customers and employees due to their behavior?

Anyhow, us peons who have built these damn cities, mined the coal, forged and welded weapons and materials, dug ditches etc etc are getting a bit tired of hearing we have "menial" jobs that are nothing more than manual/hard labor. Like pushing paper around and making spreadsheets and pie charts is some super special job that requires years of university study. I did all that stuff for years, and I only had a grade 10 education!

Also, many people who serve in the military/armed forces and/or as frontline responders do a lot of things that are considered to be "menial", like digging ditches, filling sandbags, and building infrastructure on the fly to prevent/respond to natural disasters such as flooding. They also do manual labor type things such as carrying people out of burning buildings and climbing ladders and fighting fires.

Just because someone sits behind a desk all day and uses a computer doesn't make them smarter or any more "skilled". Us "menial, low-skilled" workers are often just as smart. We are often overlooked, unrecognized, and underpaid—or not paid at all. How many volunteer fire departments are out there? Or volunteer emergency rescue workers? I mean, they just go for hikes to find people, right? It's just manual labor.

Oh, and all those residential care aides in the hospitals who change bedpans and help residents get dressed and shower and help them with other tasks they require assistance with, not like they are truly skilled, eh? They're just "low-skill" menial jobs. They just clean. Not like that's important, I mean, just look at the covid times. Not like all those menial frontline jobs were the ones that ended up being the most important while the desk jockeys hid at home with their masks afraid to touch anything without hand sanitizer and lysol wipes.

Oy vey!