I think my 21 year old son made a good move getting into the electrical trade

[mikehiggins]

61. Way back in the '60s my folks wanted me to get a college degree

Fortunately, I drank and partied my way out of school and ended up in the apprenticeship program of Local 3 of the IBEW.

There is an old saying: if you love your work you really aren't working. True for me at any rate. I spent over 40 years at the trade (and have the crappy knees to show for it) and literally never regretted it for a New York Minute. Of course a lot of that was due to the fact that I was in the best local union in the US and worked on an incredible range of jobs and projects. You never were bored and you never failed to run into something you never knew before. The learning curve was constant and my only regret was I have grown too old to stay at it.

I taught at a technical school in NYC afterwards and spent a lot of time explaining to my classes how to get started in the field if they couldn't get into the union directly. Some of the best students went out on their own and the union brought them into the fold fairly quickly.

If I had listened to my folks way back when I probably would have wound up a history teacher in some high school or other. I might have been happy doing that BUT I would have missed out on a way of life that was both fulfilling and profitable.

I was lucky, I guess. (and oh, God Bless all the Van Arsdales, young and old)