—”and having never put my nose to the grind stone.”
As I was reading along... here it comes...HE NEVER PICKS HIS NOSE OR CHEWS HIS NAILS!
Punchline for a plumber joke.
My little brother, a couple of my half brothers are millionaires from simple blue collar stuff and buying houses with the money, whether roofing or moving trailers, remodeling or whatever, when you make some extra money by being self employed and buying little fixer uppers, the wealth accumulates, most millionaires drive pickups.
For most people the path by my various in laws is best, a good office/professional career, nice suburban or urban life and not dealing with tenants, great retirement with good knees and a good back, the point is that anyone can have some degree of wealth in America, but of course mass immigration kills a lot of the blue collar route, or at least makes it far more grubbier and unpleasant.