Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay — others jumped in to note the importance of the jobs and harsh working conditions.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2936916

Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration::Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay — others jumped in to note the importance of the jobs and harsh working conditions.

  • @bucho@lemmy.oneEnglish
    18•11 months ago

    Bro. I’m an engineer. Have been for more than 20 years. This guy, talking about how his job is harder than someone who delivers packages for 10 hours a day is fucking lying. Either that, or he’s completely divorced from reality.

    Yes, you need more schooling, and yes, solving puzzles all day is mentally draining. But you know what? I’ll take being mentally drained over having my body completely fall apart by 50 because of the toll my job took on it. Being an engineer is in no way harder than any blue collar job I’ve ever seen.

    Edit: And also, if you’re mentally exhausted after reading for 10 minutes… that’s not normal. Have you been tested for things like dyslexia? Could be that you have some kind of processing disorder that makes it difficult to read.

      • @bucho@lemmy.oneEnglish
        10•11 months ago

        Yes, I got diagnosed with ADHD as a child, but I don’t get why you would think that’s necessary to comment on.

        I wasn’t commenting on your ADHD. I was commenting on the fact that you said “Try sitting still and reading a book for more than 10 minutes, and you will find that it can be exhausting to do.”, and pointing out that being exhausted after reading for 10 minutes is not normal. If you meant to imply that activities that are purely mentally focused can be draining, well, I agree. But you didn’t do a very good job of conveying that with the sentence you chose, so your meaning wasn’t clear to me.

        I don’t think it’s fair to compare states in 50 years like this without mentioning the time lost from school and research + the better overall life quality that comes with more money.

        Why not? All work is trading parts of yourself in exchange for money. Sometimes, that part of yourself is your mental focus, sometimes your physical health. I am well aware that people in STEM-type jobs have an increased incidence of depression and burnout. Hell, I stopped working for 5 years because I was depressed and burnt out.

        But you know what? I was able to stop working for that long because I made a really good salary before leaving the workforce. And what I did was in no way more difficult than someone loading boxes into trucks in a hot warehouse, or remaining focused on traffic conditions for several hours per day then interspersing that with delivering those same packages to people’s homes and offices.

        So, my job wasn’t harder, but it paid better. My back isn’t sore, but my mental health took a toll. The reality is, everybody suffers. And even if the UPS delivery guy got paid twice what I made, I still wouldn’t pick that job because my chosen field is easier and still pays pretty well.

        So I’m not stressed in the slightest that they potentially got a bump (it still has to pass a vote). Good for them. They deserve it.