@PreparationPreparationPrep
*I'm genuinely interested why you would have 20 years ago and what's changed your attitude now?
I promise I'm not being an arse, I'm genuinely interested in what changed your opinion* 🙂
I know this wasn't for me but I would say maturity and life experience. Maturity and exposure give you a better understanding of society. There are many highly qualified people in low paid jobs but we wouldn't know this Unless we know them personally.
Thank you. (This next but isn't directed at you specifically but a general observation)
I'm always a bit baffled by the idea that anyone in a job that's perceived to be low skilled should be respected because they might be highly qualified in a different area or studying at university and doing the job to make a bit of money - not because they're a person themselves, or simply because of the job they're doing, like they only deserve any respect because they might have a degree or education you might not know about, that's not in keeping with the perception of the job itself.
It seems that the monetary value of a job is the only indicator for some of what level of respect they're due, not the overall value, of what that job contributes towards society in other ways.
Low paid jobs usually have some element of public facing too, where there's a relentless demand for 100% perfection and very little tolerance towards the person delivering the service for it not being so, regardless of the reason - there's many complaints about covid being used as an excuse for poor customer service when things had to change, by law, for example. And an attitude that these workers were 'power hungry' rather than following the directions from above, and don't have the leeway to make 'common sense decisions' because they are micromanaged within an inch of their lives. To do so often means going against company policy and the concequences that brings. The companies don't have respect for their staff and the people using the service then follow suit. Most of the policies are designed to save money though, not deliver customer service.
You need some level of experience in at least some areas of any low paid and low respected job in order to provide the service that is demanded, and that demand gets higher all the time. You get that experience practically, by working the job, and a lot of the time, people using a job as a stepping stone or temporarily take their experience with them when they leave, or do the bare minimum to get by and get paid.
Everyone wants their 'experience' either in a shop transaction, or a meal out or their elderly relatives care, to be perfect and right, and it to be delivered by someone who cares about that, you only really get that with believing in what you do and having experience in that area to know what makes the difference. We need people who work a lifetime in these jobs in order to have that bank of experience and knowledge to deliver the service level required.
I asked this on a similar thread, would you rather your elderly and vulnerable relatives be cared for by someone who believes in what they're doing, has experience and knowledge built up from years of working that job and is passionate about it, or someone who's learned the bare minimum skills to get by because they just want the wage packet at the end of the month, as they're studying for something else, or they need a bit of extra cash that their 'real' job isn't providing?
The second person probably garners more respect than the first, yet the first probably actually does the job better and delivers better care.
We need to look past the monetary value of any job, and see the real value behind it. Without many of them people would be cleaning their own homes and offices, looking after their own children and vulnerable relatives and facing empty shelves in supermarkets and where would that leave them?
I feel a lot of these jobs are taken for granted, that someone will do them and that the skills needed for delivering a good service are not low, they're simply not valued.