Mike Rowe: Soiled Jobs Can Be Good Jobs

(on Facebook)

Why ‘the world is full of very happy septic tank cleaners and wretched investment bankers’.

mike Rowe was on his way to the airport after filming an episode of Dirty Jobs when he saw a crew of roofers at a church on an “impossibly” hot day in Pasadena.

In a split second, he decided to skip his flight home and see what kind of people tarred a tall building in the California sun. It was definitely a “dirty job” – one that Rowe thought viewers would want to know more about.

And that’s how the “Hot Tar Roofer” episode of the show came about. Twelve hours later a new episode was ready and a bunch of roofers got their families informed that they would be on TV. So it was with many episodes of the show that put Rowe on the map and showed people and said they don’t need a masters degree and corner office to make a living.

I grew up with a tar cauldron in my garden, the grass was covered with tar droplets, and my father’s construction boots were on the doorstep and were speckled with tar, mud, paint and everything else a roofer would come into contact with.

My father’s roofing business was “dirty work” – and although it was his, he did the dirty work himself. There were hammers to jump over in the yard next to the swing, nails rolled around on the garage floor, piles of sheet metal leaned against the outside of our house and the infamous pieces of fiberglass that I slipped down and only later realized what a very itchy mistake that was.

Interviewing Rowe, who has made a name for himself beyond Dirty Jobs, was a real privilege because he preached a message that would bring my family and me a wonderful life of opportunity.

It’s bipartisan and practical – and it’s this: sometimes the thing you’re passionate about isn’t the thing you’re good at. You could be good at plumbing – and it is possible to thrive, find passion, and make a living from it if you allow yourself to be open to it.

Rowe exhorts those who encourage high school graduates to “live their dreams” when that encouragement comes from someone who does not know about the person they are talking to.

“I think if you want to give someone the best advice you can. . . You need to know who this person is, what drives them, what their strengths and weaknesses are, ”Rowe said in an interview with National review.

He recently replied to a joke from Bernie Sanders:

At the end of the day, it’s a lot cheaper to make your way to college than it is to get people on their way to jail.

– Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 13, 2015

Rowe is famous for saying traditional college isn’t the answer for everyone, and so is he was incredulous that Sanders “would imply that going to jail is the most likely alternative to going to college”.

But that’s politics, he says.

“That’s my problem with Bernie – anyone who talks great about college – you can’t say something that is common to everyone and yet they try,” Rowe said. “If you try to get elected. . . Your message has to be fundamentally consistent – and so politics makes the problem worse. “

And what about “free college” – the concept that Sanders and other progressives love so much? The idea doesn’t go well with Rowe, who says, “I’ve never been able to agree on the idea that the more important the matter, the freer it should be.”

When Sanders and others discussed the importance of education, Rowe said they wrongly “choose some form of education as the best path for most people”.

“Our elected officials have chosen college as the golden ticket, wish fulfillment, human right – and therefore the thing that should be made free and available to all,” explains Rowe. “If you say that education should be free, then you have it all along the line – talk to me about opportunities for vocational schools, apprenticeships, scholarships and training programs.”

He is often so misinterpreted that he does not believe in education, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Rowe says he believes that without education there is “absolutely no hope of success,” but education is not unique to a traditional college system.

Rowe says he believes that without education there is “absolutely no hope of success,” but education is not unique to a traditional college system.

And Rowe has the evidence to prove he’s right. Through his Mike Rowe Foundation, he was able to provide people with the necessary training for skilled trades – and he receives letters every day in which he thanks for his message and encouragement.

“A guy came by yesterday [on his Facebook wall] and said, ‘I’m 30 and I’ve been unhappy for most of my professional career. . . . Then I saw an episode of Dirty Jobs where you cleaned chimneys, so I went to the National Chimney Sweep Cleaning Institute and got certified. Now I have two employees, a van and my own business, ‘”says Rowe.

Living your career dreams is not a bad thing if you have the talent to nurture them, but career choice isn’t necessarily what makes someone happy and fulfilled. Therefore, according to Rowe, “the world is full of very happy septic tank cleaners and wretched investment bankers.”

“There is nothing magical about job satisfaction. . . . It has so much less to do with the job and everything to do with the person, ”he said.

Hence, he does not recommend that unhappy investment bankers quit their jobs and become chimney sweeps. However, someone leaving high school or college – or locked in a dead-end job – shouldn’t view a skilled occupation as something subordinate to their intelligence or status. Many of these industries are hiring like crazy, and getting the education you need isn’t difficult.

Although Rowe has been criticized for not advocating traditional college as the be-all and end-all, it’s clear his message is swinging across the aisle.

“Every time I go to DC to talk about the skill gap. . . I’ll get calls from both aides and senators and they’ll all say the same thing, ‘Boy, your message is so to the point with us – you really are our people!’ – and I say, ‘Do you know who I just talked to?’ “Said Rowe.

This is probably why Rowe has over 3.3 million fans on his Facebook page, with whom he has substantial conversations every day. This is where he closes the circle of his message – and finds the encouragement to continue helping people achieve their true dream of employment by doing something that actually needs to be done.

These days, Rowe continues his work with the Mike Rowe Works Foundation and his CNN show Somebody’s Gotta Do It, about famous people from history. You may also want to read his message for the 2016 Prague U class.

It’s clear he won’t be fading from the spotlight anytime soon. As long as his advice resonates with the Americans, he seems happy to fill an inspiration gap that has been lacking a messenger for too long.