# article:Two College Degrees Later, I Was Still Picking Kale For Rich People



## JeanOcelot0 (Dec 30, 2020)

Two College Degrees Later, I Was Still Picking Kale For Rich People


While buying groceries for rich people, I realized upward mobility in America is largely a myth.




www.buzzfeednews.com


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## jjminor82 (Oct 25, 2019)

I agree with the first comment that I came upon at the bottom of the article. I highly disagree with the writer, however that is partly due because to the lack of details or clarity. I don’t really care where she went to school but I think it’s important what she received her degrees in. Like her I find myself doing gig work even though I have a bachelors in education and a masters in accounting. I taught for most of my life to this point however I also took two accounting/auditing positions after returning to the US from teaching abroad.

Sometimes I get the distinct impression that because people feel like they have degrees and letters behind their name they are above this type of work even if they are working in the gig economy. In other words they feel ashamed to have to stoop to this level. I do not. In fact I enjoy this work more than either of my other careers, however I did enjoy teaching quite a bit as well (The education/school bureaucracy was another thing).

I get the impression she is embarrassed or ashamed of this job partly in the fact that she gives up so easily. ( I read parts of the article but not the whole thing because it was just too long so take that into bearing. ). Has she never been mocked before? Has she never been laughed at or threatened? I have been in both the gig economy world and in the worlds of accounting and education. How does she expect upward mobility when she gives up at the first sight of battle (I cannot think of a better word at the moment than battle)?

Upward mobility is most definitely possible, if you are willing to, and want to, do what it takes and you set goals and follow through. Or, at the very least, upward mobility is much more realistic in this country when compared with every other country I have personally traveled to or lived in. Take South Korea for an example.

Upward mobility is possible in South Korea and it has happened for many. However in order to get the best jobs you have to go to one of three elite universities in Seoul (you are generally only considered for those better positions if you have a degree from one of those universities). How do you get into those universities? Test scores are part of it and high school branding is the other. How can you become competitive enough to get into those schools and get those good test scores (and buy good scores I mean practically perfect as anything less will not be sufficient)? By the years of afterschool tutoring starting in elementary school and continuing through high school which must be paid for by the parents. Households in Korea typically spent over 50% of their income on education for their children due to the competitive nature there and the fact that there was little to no faith in the school system. After school tutoring was where students learned anything and everything and the schools were just there for practice (or naps if I am being honest). So there is the possibility for upward mobility there however it is much more difficult for both the child and for the family of the child.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

A thread on UP a couple years ago found many with not only Bachelor Degrees but more than you thought had Masters level or higher. However, many were part time like me doing this for supplemental income. In addition to a B.B.A. I have an MBA in Finance and an MS in HRM.

I grew up poor so I don't view any work as "beneath me". I have been doing gig work since 2017 part time for supplemental income because I am a "pay as you go" no debt fanatic. Occasionally over the years I have had someone say to me "why do you do THAT"? When I tell them I put 4 kids thru College with no student loans they shut up! I have had several young people tell me they wished their Dad did that for them. Why do I still deliver food in addition to my "normal job"? I have a daughter in Medical School I assist and a mother with Dementia I support. That is where all the gig money goes.

Hard work is not "beneath" anyone no matter what the education. It should be viewed as a means to and end and we all have different reasons for doing gig work. If it works for you.....great.


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

A degree is the learning part of the equation. What you do with the learning, is the earning part.

I have an MBA in administration and entrepreneurship.


I make money lots of ways.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

A degree doesn't guarantee a job. MS in mechanical engineering here. Maybe I am just too autistic, but also I do feel like the kids with engineer dads had it easy. They could use their father's connections as a jump start. I know plenty of people who are first generation engineers who made it on their own but I also know many others in the same position I am in.

I am going for a new degree in software engineering because at least I can be self employed writing software without million dollar equipment. 

There is some mobility but a degree is a small part of it. Networking is key and that is not easy. Much easier to start your own business, at least for me.


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## jjminor82 (Oct 25, 2019)

Amos69 said:


> A degree is the learning part of the equation. What you do with the learning, is the earning part.
> 
> I have an MBA in administration and entrepreneurship.
> 
> ...


Well I sort of agree with your statement that a degree is the learning part of the equation I believe there are much better ways to learn. My firstdegree was in education in my second was in accounting. I would say about 50% of the time required to get my firstdegree was complete trash. I was still paying for it of course but it was completely useless garbage that they said I had to take in order to complete the degree. After my advanced degree I continued to believe there are better routes to learning than through the education system in the United States.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Seamus said:


> A thread on UP a couple years ago found many with not only Bachelor Degrees but more than you thought had Masters level or higher. However, many were part time like me doing this for supplemental income. In addition to a B.B.A. I have an MBA in Finance and an MS in HRM.
> 
> I grew up poor so I don't view any work as "beneath me". I have been doing gig work since 2017 part time for supplemental income because I am a "pay as you go" no debt fanatic. Occasionally over the years I have had someone say to me "why do you do THAT"? When I tell them I put 4 kids thru College with no student loans they shut up! I have had several young people tell me they wished their Dad did that for them. Why do I still deliver food in addition to my "normal job"? I have a daughter in Medical School I assist and a mother with Dementia I support. That is where all the gig money goes.
> 
> Hard work is not "beneath" anyone no matter what the education. It should be viewed as a means to and end and we all have different reasons for doing gig work. If it works for you.....great.


Amen brother.
I think our lives have taken similar paths.
I grew up poor too. The only white boy in 'da hood'. I've had many shit jobs: burr grinder in an iron foundry, ditch digger, bus boy in a smorgasbord ... I'm not too proud to do a job.
Graduated with dual undergrad degrees in Managerial Economics and Business Admin from Cal State Hayward - and no student debt.

I'm doing a mid management level job now in an agriculture company, but I still like getting out there with the people who actually work for a living and get some dirt under my fingernails. Its amazing what a manager can learn by actually doing the job for a few hours.

.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

UberBastid said:


> Amen brother.
> I think our lives have taken similar paths.
> I grew up poor too. The only white boy in 'da hood'. I've had many shit jobs: burr grinder in an iron foundry, ditch digger, bus boy in a smorgasbord ... I'm not too proud to do a job.
> Graduated with dual undergrad degrees in Managerial Economics and Business Admin from Cal State Hayward - and no student debt.
> ...


Me three. Also grew up poor, first job at 13, my own apt. in NYC when I was 16. Always been hustling. Managed a custom photo lab for a number of years and could do every job in the place (not all well) to understand what my people needed to be successful. Got an advanced computer science degree when I saw photolab was coming to an end. Currently do IT project management but I can't help it, still have the hustle in me, there's something satisfying about actually doing something instead of just emailing and talking all day. I am also responsible to some extent for the well being of 8 family members, a responsibility I proudly bear.


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

They will NEVER let financial slaves be financial slave masters.

Who is going to do the work, while they lounge around checking their fakebook?


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)




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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Seamus said:


> View attachment 605914


You should be banned for that


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

Seamus said:


> View attachment 605914


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

Seamus said:


> A thread on UP a couple years ago found many with not only Bachelor Degrees but more than you thought had Masters level or higher. However, many were part time like me doing this for supplemental income. In addition to a B.B.A. I have an MBA in Finance and an MS in HRM.
> 
> I grew up poor so I don't view any work as "beneath me". I have been doing gig work since 2017 part time for supplemental income because I am a "pay as you go" no debt fanatic. Occasionally over the years I have had someone say to me "why do you do THAT"? When I tell them I put 4 kids thru College with no student loans they shut up! I have had several young people tell me they wished their Dad did that for them. Why do I still deliver food in addition to my "normal job"? I have a daughter in Medical School I assist and a mother with Dementia I support. That is where all the gig money goes.
> 
> Hard work is not "beneath" anyone no matter what the education. It should be viewed as a means to and end and we all have different reasons for doing gig work. If it works for you.....great.


My ancestors are many, many generations of fishermen and housewives, just scraping by... Nearly subsistence living.. My parents did multiple jobs: Military, Factory, Health Care, Bartending, theatre grip, even grave digging. Even by 1990, few members of my extended family of the generation in my cohort had gone to College or University, and the commercial fishing industry ended in Newfoundland significantly in the 1980s. But I went to University, and have worked more than 20 years as a research Chemist, and my brother is a successful Criminal Lawyer who has argued in front of Canada's Supreme Court on multiple occations. Moving to Toronto in the 1970s and opportunities for GenX in upward mobility was real for my family. We are successful by any fiscal or career metric.

And yea, I also drive UBER.


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## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

Seamus said:


> View attachment 605914


I would miss my penis too much to let myself get that fat. But I did get up to 258lbs at my fattest. Had to wear 40" jeans.


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## JeanOcelot0 (Dec 30, 2020)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> My ancestors are many, many generations of fishermen and housewives, just scraping by... Nearly subsistence living.. My parents did multiple jobs: Military, Factory, Health Care, Bartending, theatre grip, even grave digging. Even by 1990, few members of my extended family of the generation in my cohort had gone to College or University, and the commercial fishing industry ended in Newfoundland significantly in the 1980s. But I went to University, and have worked more than 20 years as a research Chemist, and my brother is a successful Criminal Lawyer who has argued in front of Canada's Supreme Court on multiple occations. Moving to Toronto in the 1970s and opportunities for GenX in upward mobility was real for my family. We are successful by any fiscal or career metric.
> 
> And yea, I also drive UBER.


You're a PhD chemist, and you still hustle with Uber?


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## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

JeanOcelot0 said:


> You're a PhD chemist, and you still hustle with Uber?


There used to be a medical doctor here who drove Uber while he was waiting for his residency to start. Anybody can end up driving rideshare.


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

JeanOcelot0 said:


> Two College Degrees Later, I Was Still Picking Kale For Rich People
> 
> 
> While buying groceries for rich people, I realized upward mobility in America is largely a myth.
> ...


I'm proud of you. A thread without a mention of cheese. 

As for the author, tough titties. If you spent tens of thousands of dollars to get two worthless degrees in niche specialties or something unmarketable and then are pissing and moaning about student loans...










As so eloquently said...


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

JeanOcelot0 said:


> You're a PhD chemist, and you still hustle with Uber?


No PhD. Just a Bachelors degree in Chemistry. I've always worked in research though. 22 years and counting. I have more than 25 US and International Patents.


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

JeanOcelot0 said:


> You're a PhD chemist, and you still hustle with Uber?


LULZ


Since 2012 I have made just over 6 million USD . 

yes a significant part of My college learnings have played a significant part of why and how I make money.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

New2This said:


> I'm proud of you. A thread without a mention of cheese.
> 
> As for the author, tough titties. If you spent tens of thousands of dollars to get two worthless degrees in niche specialties or something unmarketable and then are pissing and moaning about student loans...


Thank you, I wasn't going to go there but there was a lot of whine in that article. People always see TV shows like Father Knows Best or Leave It To Beaver and think that's what a normal family life is like. The reality is far from it and we all have to take ownership of being the person we are and take steps to be the person we want to be.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Disgusted Driver said:


> Leave It To Beaver and think that's what a normal family life is like.


What? It's not?

"Hello Mrs. Cleaver; how's the Beaver today?" - Eddie Haskel

.


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

Disgusted Driver said:


> Thank you, I wasn't going to go there but there was a lot of whine in that article. People always see TV shows like Father Knows Best or Leave It To Beaver and think that's what a normal family life is like. The reality is far from it and we all have to take ownership of being the person we are and take steps to be the person we want to be.


Even moreso, PARENTS need to take responsibility for teaching and raising their children.


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## Driving With A Purpose (Jul 28, 2020)

SpinalCabbage said:


> I would miss my penis too much to let myself get that fat. But I did get up to 258lbs at my fattest. Had to wear 40" jeans.


Your private parts weighed how much? That is huge!


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

Driving With A Purpose said:


> Your private parts weighed how much? That is huge!


DUDE



You have no idea.


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## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

Driving With A Purpose said:


> Your private parts weighed how much? That is huge!


258 lbs is huge. Oddly enough I never lost my flat stomach (So I never lost sight of my junk). I just got bulkier.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

I started this job I'm on now about two years ago.
I lost a bunch of weight.

Went to the doc ... he sits down and starts looking thru paperwork, lab slips, etc.
He looks up over the clipboard at me hard, and says, "So, how do you feel?"
Sometimes a concerning question.
"I feel great. But, what do YOU see there?"
"Well," he says "I see that you've lost 25 lbs, your blood pressure is twenty mm lower than last time I saw you, Cholesterol is down. What's going on?"
I grinned. "Well doc. I started this new job. I'm getting more exercise, I'm sleeping more, drinking less, eating better."
He says, "And you feel better? That's amazing."
"I know, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Last time I went he told me to stop losing weight, he likes his seasoned citizens to carry a few extra lbs in case of sickness or injury.


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## ColonyMark (Sep 26, 2019)

I couldn’t get the article to load so I’m not sure what kind of degrees the writer attained. I’m sure some degrees will give a person a better chance of a good salary than others. A BS in Underwater basket weaving probably wouldn’t get you a big salary


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## IsaacRignall (Sep 19, 2021)

great job


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

jjminor82 said:


> because people feel like they have degrees and letters behind their name they are above this type of work even if they are working in the gig economy. In other words they feel ashamed to have to stoop to this level. I do not. In fact I enjoy this work more than either of my other careers,


As a child, I remember my mom as being a nurse. She cared about people. Really cared. Didn't talk about it ... just DID it. Ya know?
She worked in Central Supply attached to a busy OR. Didn't like that much because it was interaction with instruments and machines. Then I remember she worked as a nurses aid in a convalescent hospital. She loved it. Took care of people she got to know, and respected. I was like ten or so, and I used to marvel at someone who could like cleaning the dirty ass of an 80 year old ... but, she did.
She used to tell me stories that they told her. The war heroes, the explorers, scientists. People who had really interesting lives. She's be upset when they died - but, she'd always tell me that it's ok 'because that's the way it's supposed to be. They gotta make room for young people - like you.' She worked there till I was about eight or so. Then she decided that she wanted to be an RN. Yea, get some letters after her name.
She worked her ass off to do just that, and at the 'old' age of 36 got those letter to put after her name.

She told me twenty years later that she ended up regretting it. Now that she had the letters after her name, she had little or no patient contact. She attended meetings, soothed prima-donna doctors, went on rounds. scheduled employees, counter signed prescriptions and ,,, and ,,, and ,,, anything other than making a fellow human comfortable, helping them eat, bathe and sharing a hug.

The "advanced learning and skills" that are emphasized today are not really all they cracked up to be. For some people, its NOT all about the money.

My mom was one of those people.



.


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

Hmm... interesting. My very first job was a dish washer at a home.

Hell Automotive school got me to Assembling Jumbo Jets. But in and out of USAF before that.
I was happy enough with that. learned a lot about engineering going into MD-11's and C-17's a long the way. The hardest part was being there on time, everyday until home ownership came. Course working second shift all those years was a big help too. From the sounds of it, I had it easy. Timing was everything though.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

SpinalCabbage said:


> I would miss my penis too much to let myself get that fat. But I did get up to 258lbs at my fattest. Had to wear 40" jeans.


that is a word you should never, ever use in the presence of @Seamus 
never
ever

** shudder **


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## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

UberBastid said:


> that is a word you should never, ever use in the presence of @Seamus
> never
> ever
> 
> ** shudder **


_Instinctively protecting my private parts._


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## Diamondraider (Mar 13, 2017)

UberBastid said:


> As a child, I remember my mom as being a nurse. She cared about people. Really cared. Didn't talk about it ... just DID it. Ya know?
> She worked in Central Supply attached to a busy OR. Didn't like that much because it was interaction with instruments and machines. Then I remember she worked as a nurses aid in a convalescent hospital. She loved it. Took care of people she got to know, and respected. I was like ten or so, and I used to marvel at someone who could like cleaning the dirty ass of an 80 year old ... but, she did.
> She used to tell me stories that they told her. The war heroes, the explorers, scientists. People who had really interesting lives. She's be upset when they died - but, she'd always tell me that it's ok 'because that's the way it's supposed to be. They gotta make room for young people - like you.' She worked there till I was about eight or so. Then she decided that she wanted to be an RN. Yea, get some letters after her name.
> She worked her ass off to do just that, and at the 'old' age of 36 got those letter to put after her name.
> ...


Bless her


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