1980’s. Legal assistant was the new and upcoming job. Started training before taking a blue collar job installing electrical systems. The legal offices I installed were pretty disgusting places. Water cooler talk confirmed it.
There’s more. An unwritten code that says getting your hands dirty is to be looked down upon. Mike Rowe hopefully corrects it.
In the trades there’s a lot of down time that gives it’s workers a chance to reflect. It’s also a time to complain if things are not going well or fast enough. A 40 hour cutoff to earn benefits hurts employers as well as workers. I say do overtime rules by the month. 4.3 weeks means 172 hours worked in any calendar month before OT is mandated. Taking safety into account the hours can be completed in say, 3 weeks with a week off(total family time) or the option of overtime. Calif has a mandated 3 and a half days off per month-something like that.