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Atticus

(15,124 posts)
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:26 PM Feb 2021

When folks who shower before work pool their resources (capital) in order to have greater power,

increased security and more prosperity, that's called a "corporation" and that is considered "the American way".

So, when folks who shower after work pool their resources (labor) in order to have greater power, increased security and more prosperity, that is called a "union". Why is that considered "unAmerican socialism"?

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StarfishSaver

(18,486 posts)
1. I've never been crazy about the "shower before work" vs. "shower after work" distinction
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:29 PM
Feb 2021

Among other things, it assumes only manual workers are "working class" and suggests that people who work at manual labor don't bathe before going to work ...

I first heard this term from Ed Schultz, who claimed he spoke for people "who shower AFTER work" as if they were somehow more noble than those "who shower BEFORE work."

Neither here nor there - it's just off-putting to me.

Atticus

(15,124 posts)
5. Sorry. I just think it is another way of saying white collar/blue collar. I understood it to mean
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:38 PM
Feb 2021

that manual laborers usually have to shower after work because the come home sweaty and dirty, the way my union laborer Dad did.

This is a generality and I'm sure there are frequent exceptions.



 

StarfishSaver

(18,486 posts)
9. I understand. I'm not criticizing you
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:51 PM
Feb 2021

But all working class people aren't manual laborers. And I'm sure that most manual laborers also bathe before they leave the house ... everyone in my family who did manual labor (including truck drivers, mill workers, housekeepers, laundresses, etc.) certainly did.

I just don't like the phrase. But that's just me.

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
10. I have to agree.
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:54 PM
Feb 2021

I’m a shower before and after work person. Or was, before I retired.

Hell, I used to shower before I went to the gym.

leftieNanner

(14,997 posts)
2. Because the morning shower people
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:30 PM
Feb 2021

realized that they could make a ton more money by holding the after-work guys down.

Attaching a "socialist" label to anything seems to scare a lot of people. Remember those "Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare (or Social Security)" folks?

I hope unions can make a strong come back in this country. With GM making plans to build electric cars here, it could provide a great opportunity there.

Nice post, Atticus. Thanks.

docgee

(870 posts)
3. I didn't know teachers didn't shower before work...
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:36 PM
Feb 2021

Actually, I think I had a few like that.


Stupid analogy though.

senseandsensibility

(16,712 posts)
4. Absolutely. And I have been beyond
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:36 PM
Feb 2021

irritated at the demonization of teachers' unions by the usual suspects and some who should know better.

panader0

(25,816 posts)
6. When you work construction, as I did as a bricklayer for 40 years,
Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:39 PM
Feb 2021

you wash your hands before you pee. (and after) I enjoyed your post about your dad.
I was a "hoddie" for a while before I was put on the wall. Down here in SW Az, right next
to the border, there are very few unions, especially in construction. When you go north to
Tucson there are more, and up in Phoenix quite a bit.
It has to do with proximity to the border. I did join the union twice for jobs that required
membership (Az is a right to work state). I was job steward and foreman. I'm all for unions!

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