Nine Toys that prepare children for a life of menial labor

[Manifestor_of_Light]

For once, Cracked is doing a sociological study of toys for the future wage slave.

http://www.cracked.com/article_17545_9-toys-that-prepare-children-life-menial-labor.html

[krispos42]

1. Dead link n/t

[Toucano]

2. I don't this these toys are "to prepare" children for menial work.

Children have always liked to play with tools they see adults using every day.

They see adults using cash registers and vacuum cleaners.

They don't see many adults using drafting tables and law books.

It's natural and harmless.

[harmonicon]

40. really?

I'm thinking about the toys I liked as a kid, and they had nothing to do with what I saw adults doing every day....

except on the days when I saw adults having squirt gun fights, cowboys having shootouts, robot fighting, stunt car racing.... stuff like that, yeah, I guess.

[Flabbergasted]

47. .

[Skittles]

3. don't like to see garbage truck in there

I've had immense respect for the garbage guys ever since experiencing one of their strikes :o

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Their jobs can't be sent overseas

although they can be oursourced from the public sector to the private (maybe non-union) sector.

:hi:

[Mopar151]

21. As an experienced professional "can man"

I think the tone was particularly condescending, and the dirt, what there is of it, comes off in the shower. And if you steam clean the truck every now 'n then, the smell ia'nt bad.

[Skittles]

38. my dad used to give big holiday tips to the trash guys

said, "THEY KNOW ALL OUR SECRETS" :rofl:

[1955doubledie]

22. That's what I thought, too

We shouldn't belittle those kinds of jobs...a lot of them (such as garbage collection) is essential.

What should be ridiculed is the menial WAGES such workers receive. :mad:

[pipi_k]

25. The 1987 Human Services workers vs McDonald's near-revolt

I worked in Human Services for a few years with the MR (now called "Developmentally Disabled") population.

Depending on the client disability level, the work can be exhausting. Add to that, the high staff turnover and the necessity of sometimes having to work multiple shifts (some managers logged in 90 hours per week), and the relative thankless nature of the job, it was often not a pretty situation.


Well, someone found out that the average worker flinging burgers and fries around at McD's was making MORE per hour than human services workers who were charged with caring for actual human beings. It got pretty nasty for a while.

Don't get me wrong...Most of the people who work in that field do it because they care. And I'm not denigrating the talents or contributions of people who work in the fast food industry.

But damn...taking care of human lives was worth more than the piddling pay we were making.

[harmonicon]

41. guys working on garbage trucks don't get menial wages

.... at least in most places they're very well paid, because the job absolutely has to be done, and is hard as hell. It's not a white-collar job that will garner someone a lot of respect in some circles, but I don't think people do it for little pay.

[Skittles]

46. I have more respect for trash guys than bankers

I suspect a lot of people do now :D

[harmonicon]

48. you have any respect for bankers?!

Wow - you're just too kind - a real humanitarian.

[Barack_America]

24. Possibly the most secure job in a consumer economy.

It's also union and can't be outsourced.

One could definitely do worse.

[Paladin]

31. On A Societal Value Basis.......

....garbage collectors are a lot higher up the chain than CPA's or neurosurgeons.

[Kajsa]

33. +1

:thumbsup:

[BlooInBloo]

4. Antidote: Legos and encyclopedias.

EDIT: I mean *real* legos - not the crap I sometimes see the days where everything is pre-fab'd.

[leveymg]

5. Check out the "unintentially creepy toys"! LOL

[KG]

6. cracked.com is a total blast.

[Skidmore]

7. Well aren't we just on the high horse today?

You know it takes all kinds of people to do all kinds of work in a society AND since when do we denigrate workers and the work they do? Now, if you have an issue with management or corporations, take it to them but don't denigrate the people who do honest labor to support their families and supply their basic needs.

Now, looking back at your OP, I'm borderline uncertain about your intent or what you are exactly saying but I will let my response stand because I someone must say this in exactly the tone of scorn it deserves.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. My parents have a home movie of me at Christmas when I was 18 mos

old, with an apron and a carpet sweeper in 1958.

Talk about trying to get you ready for a swell life of being a house wife.

[cali]

11. my favorite toy one year in the early sixties was

a toy stable and tack room. No, I don't think the message was that I should spend a lifetime mucking out stalls.

[no_hypocrisy]

19. I can see your point.

My bone of contention remains that at 18 months of age, one generally doesn't choose a present but accepts almost anything with gratitude. My parents gave me stuffed animals along with the pre-Suzy Homemaker package. I think b/c it was 1958 and the homemaker was glorified in the culture and the media that it's understandable why the toy companies would reflect that in their lines for that year. I just find it interesting the enculturization of children using toys and I know it's been done eternally.

[pipi_k]

23. I got the same kinds of "girl" toys...

Dolls, cooking stuff, a little play iron and ironing board set, etc.

I also got the gender neutral toys like Slinky, board games, Colorforms (anybody remember those?), crayons and coloring books, etc.


What I really wanted was a train set like a couple of my boy cousins had.

[no_hypocrisy]

28. Yeah! My brother got erector sets and Lionel trains!

Cool stuff.

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. I got GI Joes.

Sadly, Joe met his noble end in a Hanoi POW camp, complete with suspension ropes and pointy stuff.

Poor Joe. His lesson was not lost on me. Stay in school... engineering is funner.

[cali]

10. idiotic. Except for the McDonald's thing

there's nothing wrong with most of those toys. And their elitist fucking asshole attitude toward garbage truck drivers and people who work with horses is a wonder to behold.

[whistler162]

13. Its Cracked think The Onion.....

[Selatius]

12. I feel like putting a bullet in my head after seeing this. "cracked" is an appropriate name.

And if I were a child made to play with the fake mailbox toy, I might actually turn the gun on all of you, just like a real postal worker!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

14. Baby Wallstreet has them trading credit default swaps and securitizing Monopoly hotel mortgages

before they can walk!

[tabbycat31]

15. they said gas station attendants are only for the lazy

I take objection to it. I'm not lazy, and I use full service gas. In fact it's illegal to pump your own gas here.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. I know.New Jersey is very weird in that regard. nt

[tabbycat31]

18. it's not a bad thing

in fact I like it. It makes it very easy to pay cash for gas. Instead of going inside and prepaying, you can just hand the guy a $20 and be done with it.

[zbdent]

17. how many days does the average Mickey Dee's worker have to put in to

afford to give their toddler the McD drivethrough playset?

[Brickbat]

20. This is BS. A lot of those jobs, if they're union, are actually quite good. And making fun of

people's livelihood is classist and tired.

[mamaleah]

26. Elitist

You are garbage if you are a laborer and do not have a Communications or English degree from XYZ State.

Yeah, that's a great message.

[lukasahero]

29. Site blocked at work but I can tell it's a joke from your post

"You are garbage if you...do not have a Communications or English degree". Trust me, that's a joke. I'm an English major and I used to say "I majored in English or how not to get a job". Everybody got the joke.

[mamaleah]

36. No No

I am saying that's the attitude towards manual laborers. ESPECIALLY amongst the "liberal elite". It's a nasty attitude and I'd much rather have one of my kids being a garbage man than another grad with a useless piece of paper.

[Codeine]

44. That attitude is endemic here.

The contempt for people who work a physical trade or who serve people in the retail sector is incredibly commonplace at DU. :mad:

[slackmaster]

27. Wow, what a buzzkill

:nuke:

[dionysus]

32. this is absolute horse shit. there were very similar toys 25 years ago when i was little...

[Kajsa]

34. What you see as "menial"

could be the entry level job young people
get to help support themselves through
school.

Garbage collection services are essential
for public health and sanitation reasons.

Let's not belittle any of these jobs,OK?

It only gives credence to the fallacy of "liberal elitists".

[mamaleah]

37. Why do you think we out of many skilled trades?

Because school counselors have been pushing the "need" for a BA in anything for 2 decades.

As for liberal elitism I do believe it exists to a certain extent. The attitude that a 4 year degree in English is needed to be a better person is just that. Elitism.

[Kajsa]

49. You have a good point, Mamaleah.

Unfortunately, a degree is now necessary to obtain
many jobs that required a HS diploma ten+ years ago.

[ThatsMyBarack]

35. That's kinda depressing....

[tuvor]

39. Well, I see CRACKED is still unfunny after all these years.

[TexasObserver]

42. I think a lot of posters don't realize Cracked is like MAD magazine, without the funny.

To me, MAD is like Diet Coke while CRACKED is more like that old swill, TAB.

Same idea, but way different result.

[Maru Kitteh]

43. A toy janitor cart? Oh God.

I did that for 2 years. Frankly, I'd rather live in the alley and forage for used bubble gum. Just kill me.

[ThoughtCriminal]

45. Our kindergarden class went on a field trip

and picked cotton (Alabama, all white kids - 1963). What did we learn?

A lot harder than it looks.

[marshall]

50. Reminds me of the Flintstone's animal operated gizmos

They always squawked--"It's a living!"