Blue collar appreciation thread

[Droopy]

Because nobody else will say thanks. Post here and be appreciated by at least me. Tell us what you do for a living and how you feel about that. Let us know how you'll be spending your long weekend if you are fortunate enough to have one. I drive a truck for a living. I work third shift delivering auto parts to dealerships. I put in 52 hours a week without the benefit of overtime pay. Here's a song for all you workin' folks:


Working Man by Rush

I get up at seven, yeah
And I go to work at nine
I got no time for livin'
Yes, I'm workin' all the time


It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am
I guess that's why they call me
They call me the working man

They call me the working man
I guess that's what I am

I get home at five o'clock
And I take myself out a nice, cold beer
Always seem to be wonderin'
Why there's nothin' goin' down here



Well, they call me the working man
I guess that's what I am

[datasuspect]

1. i don't work

but here's to ya, driver!

[fizzgig]

2. i'm not blue collar

but :toast: to you, droopy, and all my blue collar friends

[laylah]

3. Although I have been

a blue collar, I am no longer. Actually, I am no longer a worker at all! But, I digress.

My daddy worked, first, in the coal mines to support his family of birth and went onto a factory, for 42 years, to support his wife and children (six of us). He was awesome...worked his ASS off, waited for we kids to eat before he filled his plate.

His efforts made possible his six children to get college degrees! :toast: I salute my long gone Daddy and those that have followed.

[fizzgig]

4. grandpa worked in a coal mine?

i never knew that

[laylah]

8. Your Grandpa

was pulled out of school in the 8th grade to work in the coalmines to help fund your Great Aunt's singing career (she had her own radio show in St. Louis not long after). Your gread-grand-dad died of black lung.

Years later, he saw evidence of a rat on the property and did the "poison" sandwich of the time. It required him going under the house to place it. I was very, VERY young; however, to this day, I can see the terror in his eyes and the sweat upon his brow over going into the dark place.

Your Grand-Dad was one awesome human bean!

[Droopy]

5. Here's to your dad

A real hero. People don't often see those kind of folks. They just see the glitz and glam on the tube. At least they don't appreciate folks like your dad. With you paying tribute it sounds like he did a good job. Not only at the factory, but at home as well.

[laylah]

9. ..

Thank you Droopy. He WAS awesome and to this day, 22 years, 4 weeks and a day, later, I miss him so much! :cry:

[fizzgig]

13. ...

:hug:

[laylah]

17. you too my baby...

you too

[Ptah]

10. I love your daddy.

:hug:

[laylah]

11. So did/do I...

:hug: Thanks, I needed that.

[Xipe Totec]

6. These are my roots:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Xipe%20Totec/62

[Droopy]

15. God bless your dad

He helped make the world go around when a lot of people didn't want that position. :toast:

[laylah]

19. Another man

whose back our country was built upon. He was a great one, Xipe Totec...you have every right to be proud. He WAS a great man!

[Xipe Totec]

24. Thank you

He and my mother are my Boaz and Jachim; my pillars.

[Ptah]

7. I'm a machinist/welder/blacksmith.

If it fits, I made it.











If it's green, I grew it






If it's precise, I made it:



Oh, and I almost forgot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxoqzhgKReY {4:55}

We built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll

Say you don't know me, or recognize my face
Say you don't care who goes to that kind of place
Knee deep in the hoopla, sinking in your fight
Too many runaways eating up the night

Marconi plays La Bamba,
Listen to the radio -
Don't you remember?
We built this city,
We built this city on rock an' roll!

We built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll

:hi:

[Droopy]

12. Excellent!

You can go far in this world if you know a skilled trade. At the very least it won't be too hard to find a job. Here's to you, Ptah. :toast:

[laylah]

14. I remember

as a child, warm (no pun intended) moments at the "smithy" shop. Our small town of <900 was a wealth of Americana...in the late '50's, early '60's.

What a noble profession...:hug: good on you!

[laylah]

16. For you Ptah

My mother used to recite this to me...it is appropriate for you and the day.

This poem was written about an actual blacksmith who had a shop in Cambridge Massachusetts.

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,---rejoicing,---sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

[Droopy]

20. That's a great poem

Thanks for posting it.

[Ptah]

23. My mother taught that to me.

I think I gained a sister tonight.

Welcome home, laylah

:grouphug:

His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

[laylah]

25. ..

a home is what i have needed for some time. thank you ptah, thank you so very much.

[laylah]

18. I must commend you

Droopy, and thank you with all my being. Your opening statement was correct..."Because nobody else will say thanks".

Makes me wonder. This country was built on the backs of men like my Dad...and women like my Grandmother...but that is another story.

Thank you so much for this thread and god/dess bless :hug:

Happy Memorial Holiday.

edited to add: OMG...I HAVE A STAR! Whomever gave that to me...you rock! Thank you!

[Droopy]

21. You're welcome

for the post. My step-father works in a steel mill. My mom works in a brewery. My dad works at the post office. My folks wanted me to go to college and I gave it a try, but it didn't work out. Never the less, they are proud of me and I of them.

[laylah]

22. And their pride in you

and more importantly, your pride in yourself, is all that matters. They sound like fine people...what this country is made of. If only the 1% would realize their/our value...but that is yet another topic.

Again, thank you.

[laylah]

26. Especially for those

that just don't get it...a BIG k&r for you and your thread!

[Droopy]

27. Thank you, laylah!

I appreciate the k&r. I sometimes get the feeling that there a lot of rich folks on DU. Or at least folks who don't have to worry too much about money. That's my inspiration for this thread. Hell, maybe I'm wrong and people just don't want to talk about it, but I don't know.

[laylah]

28. My thought, actually,

if you can stand the "in-coming" this thread may be better accepted/responded to/APPRECIATED in GD. Of course, there will be the ASS to make it controversial...but I am just saying.

:hug: Thanks again

[Steven_S]

29. I am probably DU's only plumber.....

27 years in the field, most of them in the residential service end and in my own business. Now I'm getting ready to retire, but I still go out every day and fix something for somebody.

It gives me a good feeling to help the people, good for the spirit I mean, but I never tell anyone about it.

Even when I retire, as long as I can pick up a tool and pick up my arms I will go out and help.

[Droopy]

30. Thanks Steven

You don't have to tell anyone about it. It's when somebody notices that makes me smile. I remember the plumber who fixed my toilet one time when I was living in a trailer park. Boy, was that a mess. I was very grateful when he got done.

[Inchworm]

31. I applaud you driver!

My dad drove a truck. Its not an easy job.

:applause: :yourock: :applause:

[Droopy]

32. Thanks, man

Here's to your dad. :toast:

[HuskerDU]

33. Thank you so much Droopy!

I work in a warehouse loading and unloading trucks. This song helps me make it through the tougher days.

Hard Travelin' by Woody Guthrie

I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin'
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been ridin' them fast rattlers, I thought you knowed
I've been ridin' them flat wheelers, way down the road
I've been ridin' them blind passengers, dead-enders, kickin' up cinders
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been hittin' some hard-rock minin', I thought you knowed
I've been leanin' on a pressure drill, way down the road
Hammer flyin', air-hole suckin', six foot of mud and I shore been a muckin'
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been hittin' some hard harvestin', I thought you knowed
North Dakota to Kansas City, way down the road
Cuttin' that wheat, stackin' that hay, and I'm tryin' make about a dollar a day
And I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been working that Pittsburgh steel, I thought you knowed
I've been a dumpin' that red-hot slag, way down the road
I've been a blasting, I've been a firin', I've been a pourin' red-hot iron
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been layin' in a hard-rock jail, I thought you knowed
I've been a laying out 90 days, way down the road
Damned old judge, he said to me, "It's 90 days for vagrancy."
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been walking that Lincoln highway, I thought you knowed,
I've been hittin' that 66, way down the road
Heavy load and a worried mind, lookin' for a woman that's hard to find,
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

[HuskerDU]

34. 'Salt of the Earth' by the Rolling Stones is another great

ode to the working man. 'Raise your glass to the hard working people'