Analysis Of Mike Rose's Blue Collar Brilliance

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Although some people may argue that because blue-collar work requires less intelligence based on the requirement of less schooling, however, if the real depth of blue-collar work is analyzed, one may realize that blue-collar work involves more understanding than recognized. In Mike Rose's short story, Blue-Collar Brilliance, published in The American Scholar, Rose discusses the skills that blue collar workers obtain merely by performing the tasks at work. The story begins with Rose's memories as a child, of his mother working at a restaurant. He immediately recognized the physical, social, and cognitive skills she learned from working her job as a waitress at a restaurant. Later in the story, he describes his experience of shadowing his uncle …show more content…

He soon found him working on the production floor on a General Motors manufacturing plant. Rose's uncle rose up through the ranks quickly and soon became a manager. Rose recalls a visit to his Uncle Joe when he was able to observe Joe in a work environment. He goes on to say how his uncle exhibited the ability to recognize problems and to respond immediately. Rose states," lacked formal knowledge of how the machines under his supervision worked, but he had direct experience with them, hands-on experience"(Rose 2009). He goes on to state how he thinks that even though Joe may not have had an education, he was still able to think critically in opportune situations. In a sense, society has it all wrong." The tendency of professional industry to look down on blue collar business greatly limits its potential" (Rashido May 2017). How can we expect to change the way we think about the intelligence of other if we look down on them because of their occupation. Like Joe, many people process the skills needed to complete a job, but not the education. Skills are not the only characteristic that protrudes. "The values of determination, perseverance, courage, and guts are evident"(Lucas 2004). These values display how blue-collar workers are often looking out for one another. Soldiers coming out of the military are another example of how values correlate to a person's work. When men …show more content…

For example, a carpenter might have a right eye for lengths and shapes because they are consistently working with ranges and building different commodities. Most often workers develop specific patterns and can comprehend mathematics quick enough to keep the pace of the job afloat. Another aspect that ignored in the blue-collar field is technology and the advancements that are always on the front lines of blue-collar work." You don't have a job anymore where you don't significantly interact with society" (Soderlin 2013). Any line of blue-collar work can be looked at, and technology can always be in use. Through technology and advancement, we can advance the economy by providing more blue-collar jobs. "The outlook for recovery is generally optimistic" (Delacsio 2016). It is how we know that intelligence is not absent from blue-collar work because technology is used continuously. The ability to take words and put it into a masterpiece is also something carpenters exhibit. They know how to plan to keep jobs moving always thinking carefully about the next step to completion. One value of living the blue-collar lifestyle appreciates the cost of a hard day of work. Nothing feels better than when a task gets completed to a high

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