“I’m a white collar guy who sometimes does blue collar work to relax.”
So do I, and I’m damn proud of it.
I work with a Chinese-American guy with an advanced software degree. His car had a flat on his car, and he was mad that he was waiting for someone to change it. I asked him, “why not do it yourself?”. He just gave me a funny look and told me that professionals don’t change flats or work on cars. I haven’t decided if that was Chinese or American culture displayed.
When I worked in Kuwait back in the '80s, I was talking with a liberated Pakistani female computer operator. I mentioned how my old car lasted a long time because I often changed the oil. She put on a look of disgust. "YOU changed the oil? We have PEOPLE to do that."
I suspect that is a common foreign attitude that sometimes changes to awe when an American rolls up his sleeves and fixes something on the spot.
As to that last, I suggest reading of a great WWII example in Under The Red Sea Sun". That book makes you, yet again, proud to be an American.