One of the biggest reasons I hate when people shill for blue collar careers is because the entire culture is so ass. I've worked blue collar work:
-Everyone is in a running gun battle to prove they're toughest and put up with the most bullshit outta everyone else. If you're wearing comfy shoes, they gotta make sure to point out they've been wearing the same shitty boots for the last 30 years!
-Every single blue collar job seems to be obsessed with sucking you in and getting you to be there long-term. I worked with a carpentry company for a few months, they spent literally the entire time, nearly every day, being like "Oh yeah man, we've got lots of guys who've been here for like 13 years, we're like a family." Very very little sense of any kind of career progression or ambition.
Sometimes I look back at the kitchens with nostalgia.
Where I don't have to answer emails or make spreadsheets late into the night.
Then I recall cleaning deep fryers and back pains from hunching over 10 hours.
Cuts, burns, and broken bones.
I'll just buy the lottery bah.