Mixed-collar dating

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The guys in my circle absolutely do care about degrees. Even if the eventual goal is to "put your wife out of work" they want the hyper educated, successful wife initially. It's another status symbol to be a power couple, at least for a time, and bringing a waitress around all your fellow successful buddies (and their successful wives!) is not impressive.

You must hang out with bizarre people. No guy I know cares about “power couples”, nor do any care about his wife being “hyper educated” or not.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love this post. I have no degree and I'm blue collar all the way and proud of it. I've fired more guys who hold degrees and can't do the job than guys who never went to college and now make 6 figures.

+1.

I love this post too. DH and I both grew up blue collar and are now white white collar professionals. We have lots of successful blue collar friends and frankly they are all very happy- happier than our white collar friends in most cases. Many own their own businesses. Not sure what our boys will want to do (they are just preteens) but We’d support a blue collar career 100% if that is what they want.

[Anonymous]

I grew up working class blue collar and now have a doctorate and high income. I think this could work if the still blue-collar person has a good reason for not having gone to college. Maybe they had ambition but life didn't work out as they hoped, or maybe they had ambition that manifested itself in something like carpentry expertise or electronics. Otherwise, you probably would have opposing world views and this would doom the relationship. Most of the guys in my neighborhood who didn't go to college had no curiosity about what was on the other side of town, much less of the country or the globe. They didn't care about books or art (other than heavy metal rock band music) and sneered at my interests. I know someone from back home who wanted to become a painter but he couldn't afford to go to college or art school. He now does painting of people's kitchen cabinets or baby murals in your nursery, and paints on his own time. He sells a few of his paintings now and then. But he's traveled around the US, Canada, and Mexico and has a thirst for beauty in nature and architecture. I'm pretty sure he's been to Europe to see the museums and buildings. Somebody like that could be a good match for a person with a white collar profession. Kinda like the guy on Sex in the City who Carrie was with but dumped after he renovated her apartment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our close friends don't care about each others' careers. No one cares that I'm a SAHM without a previous career. I don't care what my best friend's husband does for a living. That's not why I'm friends with her...

Really? As in you never had a career of any kind?? What did you did before you got married?

I met H while I was in college and we married after I graduated. He's older than me and had an established career. We had our first child early in our marriage and then I became disabled. It wasn't the plan I had in my head when I left for college at 18, but I've had a good life with friends who don't judge me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up working class blue collar and now have a doctorate and high income. I think this could work if the still blue-collar person has a good reason for not having gone to college. Maybe they had ambition but life didn't work out as they hoped, or maybe they had ambition that manifested itself in something like carpentry expertise or electronics. Otherwise, you probably would have opposing world views and this would doom the relationship. Most of the guys in my neighborhood who didn't go to college had no curiosity about what was on the other side of town, much less of the country or the globe. They didn't care about books or art (other than heavy metal rock band music) and sneered at my interests. I know someone from back home who wanted to become a painter but he couldn't afford to go to college or art school. He now does painting of people's kitchen cabinets or baby murals in your nursery, and paints on his own time. He sells a few of his paintings now and then. But he's traveled around the US, Canada, and Mexico and has a thirst for beauty in nature and architecture. I'm pretty sure he's been to Europe to see the museums and buildings. Somebody like that could be a good match for a person with a white collar profession. Kinda like the guy on Sex in the City who Carrie was with but dumped after he renovated her apartment.

This is a really insightful post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up working class blue collar and now have a doctorate and high income. I think this could work if the still blue-collar person has a good reason for not having gone to college. Maybe they had ambition but life didn't work out as they hoped, or maybe they had ambition that manifested itself in something like carpentry expertise or electronics. Otherwise, you probably would have opposing world views and this would doom the relationship. Most of the guys in my neighborhood who didn't go to college had no curiosity about what was on the other side of town, much less of the country or the globe. They didn't care about books or art (other than heavy metal rock band music) and sneered at my interests. I know someone from back home who wanted to become a painter but he couldn't afford to go to college or art school. He now does painting of people's kitchen cabinets or baby murals in your nursery, and paints on his own time. He sells a few of his paintings now and then. But he's traveled around the US, Canada, and Mexico and has a thirst for beauty in nature and architecture. I'm pretty sure he's been to Europe to see the museums and buildings. Somebody like that could be a good match for a person with a white collar profession. Kinda like the guy on Sex in the City who Carrie was with but dumped after he renovated her apartment.

+1. Good insightful post.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it can work beautifully. Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

[Anonymous]

I find this post very interesting, especially the comment about dating/marrying a firefighter. I work as a firefighter (Captain) with Washington DC Fire Department. I feel as if I'm a combination of blue and white collar. I manage dozens of people, make decisions under the most stressful circumstances (literally life and death decisions), I manage inputting time for payroll, discipline, training, public relations, and dozens of other activities. However, at any time I can be in side of a burning building or working a shooting with blood everywhere. Sounds horrible, but I love thy job. I also wonder if most people realize what firefighters earn here in DC and I wonder if it would make a difference in the minds of everyone when it comes to viewing our "social status". Most young firemen make in the neighborhood of $80 to $90,000 per year before overtime and holidays. As a Captain I bring in around $150,000 base and around $200,000 after overtime. To be honest I don't even know how this stacks up against most of you...is it a decent salary for a "white collar" worker? Also, I know many, many other firemen who own businesses. Our unique schedule give us that opportunity that few other professions provide. We work for 24 hours straight, followed by 3 days off. In other words I work 2 days a week, allowing me 5 days a week to build my business. (We sleep at night between runs, so I may start the day a bit tired, but I'm functioning). I know more millionaire firemen than you would ever imagine. So does this put us in parity with other men in the potential dating pool for the average DC area female? Granted, most of the guys I work with are more into beer, football, hunting and fishing than many in the white collar world (I personally love fishing but don't get the chance to do it much), many of us enjoy the arts, history, dressing up and going to nice restaurants and the such. I personally love these kinds of activities. I have a bachelor's degree from a major university, speak another language and learning a third, just in the middle of starting my own company with several big contracts already in the pipeline. Now both of those things are independent of the other. My income and my interests. Many people have higher income and no interest in the arts, and many make much less and probably love these things even more than I do. I think you have to ask yourself which one of these are more important to you. I personally think the most important thing is finding a person who shares the same interests (and has others as well), whom you become best friends with. I also believe another thing about the guys you might choose to date in this area. It seems to me that although nice, many of the guys here can't even change a tire or do anything remotely mechanical. Many seem kind of feminized and have forgotten or never knew what it was like to me a man.
Why am I writing this? I'm not entirely sure, but I've been trying to figure out the dating scene around here. I've been divorced for about a year, so this is all new to me. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how I rank when it comes to other DC guys.

[Anonymous]

I have a PhD, husband has an associates, both successful in our respective fields. (He is in law enforcement). My respect for him grows year after year and the traits I love most in my daughter are those that came from her Dad, her calm manner, her extroversion and social skills and her strong sense of herself. (He was and is a wonderful father and very involved). The things I was drawn to have made for a wonderful family and we complement each other.Trust your gut, it can work.

[Anonymous]

I don't know why most of you are shaming the OP. There was no assumption of being better in her post. It was a genuine question. Can a blue-white collar couple work? What challenges will she need to prepare for? What should she expect?

I am finding her question very interesting.

Thank you to whomever posted the NYtimes link.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find this post very interesting, especially the comment about dating/marrying a firefighter. I work as a firefighter (Captain) with Washington DC Fire Department. I feel as if I'm a combination of blue and white collar. I manage dozens of people, make decisions under the most stressful circumstances (literally life and death decisions), I manage inputting time for payroll, discipline, training, public relations, and dozens of other activities. However, at any time I can be in side of a burning building or working a shooting with blood everywhere. Sounds horrible, but I love thy job. I also wonder if most people realize what firefighters earn here in DC and I wonder if it would make a difference in the minds of everyone when it comes to viewing our "social status". Most young firemen make in the neighborhood of $80 to $90,000 per year before overtime and holidays. As a Captain I bring in around $150,000 base and around $200,000 after overtime. To be honest I don't even know how this stacks up against most of you...is it a decent salary for a "white collar" worker? Also, I know many, many other firemen who own businesses. Our unique schedule give us that opportunity that few other professions provide. We work for 24 hours straight, followed by 3 days off. In other words I work 2 days a week, allowing me 5 days a week to build my business. (We sleep at night between runs, so I may start the day a bit tired, but I'm functioning). I know more millionaire firemen than you would ever imagine. So does this put us in parity with other men in the potential dating pool for the average DC area female? Granted, most of the guys I work with are more into beer, football, hunting and fishing than many in the white collar world (I personally love fishing but don't get the chance to do it much), many of us enjoy the arts, history, dressing up and going to nice restaurants and the such. I personally love these kinds of activities. I have a bachelor's degree from a major university, speak another language and learning a third, just in the middle of starting my own company with several big contracts already in the pipeline. Now both of those things are independent of the other. My income and my interests. Many people have higher income and no interest in the arts, and many make much less and probably love these things even more than I do. I think you have to ask yourself which one of these are more important to you. I personally think the most important thing is finding a person who shares the same interests (and has others as well), whom you become best friends with. I also believe another thing about the guys you might choose to date in this area. It seems to me that although nice, many of the guys here can't even change a tire or do anything remotely mechanical. Many seem kind of feminized and have forgotten or never knew what it was like to me a man.
Why am I writing this? I'm not entirely sure, but I've been trying to figure out the dating scene around here. I've been divorced for about a year, so this is all new to me. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how I rank when it comes to other DC guys.

I'd date you if I wasn't already married! Also, your post kind of makes me want to be a firefighter...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a lawyer and my husband in a cop. It works beautifully for us. I admire what he does, and he is very good at it. I don’t think any less of him for having a blue collar job—I respect him very much for it.

most cops i know are cheaters.....will chase any skirt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find this post very interesting, especially the comment about dating/marrying a firefighter. I work as a firefighter (Captain) with Washington DC Fire Department. I feel as if I'm a combination of blue and white collar. I manage dozens of people, make decisions under the most stressful circumstances (literally life and death decisions), I manage inputting time for payroll, discipline, training, public relations, and dozens of other activities. However, at any time I can be in side of a burning building or working a shooting with blood everywhere. Sounds horrible, but I love thy job. I also wonder if most people realize what firefighters earn here in DC and I wonder if it would make a difference in the minds of everyone when it comes to viewing our "social status". Most young firemen make in the neighborhood of $80 to $90,000 per year before overtime and holidays. As a Captain I bring in around $150,000 base and around $200,000 after overtime. To be honest I don't even know how this stacks up against most of you...is it a decent salary for a "white collar" worker? Also, I know many, many other firemen who own businesses. Our unique schedule give us that opportunity that few other professions provide. We work for 24 hours straight, followed by 3 days off. In other words I work 2 days a week, allowing me 5 days a week to build my business. (We sleep at night between runs, so I may start the day a bit tired, but I'm functioning). I know more millionaire firemen than you would ever imagine. So does this put us in parity with other men in the potential dating pool for the average DC area female? Granted, most of the guys I work with are more into beer, football, hunting and fishing than many in the white collar world (I personally love fishing but don't get the chance to do it much), many of us enjoy the arts, history, dressing up and going to nice restaurants and the such. I personally love these kinds of activities. I have a bachelor's degree from a major university, speak another language and learning a third, just in the middle of starting my own company with several big contracts already in the pipeline. Now both of those things are independent of the other. My income and my interests. Many people have higher income and no interest in the arts, and many make much less and probably love these things even more than I do. I think you have to ask yourself which one of these are more important to you. I personally think the most important thing is finding a person who shares the same interests (and has others as well), whom you become best friends with. I also believe another thing about the guys you might choose to date in this area. It seems to me that although nice, many of the guys here can't even change a tire or do anything remotely mechanical. Many seem kind of feminized and have forgotten or never knew what it was like to me a man.
Why am I writing this? I'm not entirely sure, but I've been trying to figure out the dating scene around here. I've been divorced for about a year, so this is all new to me. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how I rank when it comes to other DC guys.

I'd date you if I wasn't already married! Also, your post kind of makes me want to be a firefighter...

Firefighters and cops are literally raping local government budgets. Why the f$$$k they need to work so much overtime. I had a fried who performed an internal audit at Fairfax and exposed all of the looting that goes on. Don't get me wrong...I appreciate public safety staff but I also know most hire under the "public safety" BS and just steal $$ from tax payers. Now...does this enhance your reputation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find this post very interesting, especially the comment about dating/marrying a firefighter. I work as a firefighter (Captain) with Washington DC Fire Department. I feel as if I'm a combination of blue and white collar. I manage dozens of people, make decisions under the most stressful circumstances (literally life and death decisions), I manage inputting time for payroll, discipline, training, public relations, and dozens of other activities. However, at any time I can be in side of a burning building or working a shooting with blood everywhere. Sounds horrible, but I love thy job. I also wonder if most people realize what firefighters earn here in DC and I wonder if it would make a difference in the minds of everyone when it comes to viewing our "social status". Most young firemen make in the neighborhood of $80 to $90,000 per year before overtime and holidays. As a Captain I bring in around $150,000 base and around $200,000 after overtime. To be honest I don't even know how this stacks up against most of you...is it a decent salary for a "white collar" worker? Also, I know many, many other firemen who own businesses. Our unique schedule give us that opportunity that few other professions provide. We work for 24 hours straight, followed by 3 days off. In other words I work 2 days a week, allowing me 5 days a week to build my business. (We sleep at night between runs, so I may start the day a bit tired, but I'm functioning). I know more millionaire firemen than you would ever imagine. So does this put us in parity with other men in the potential dating pool for the average DC area female? Granted, most of the guys I work with are more into beer, football, hunting and fishing than many in the white collar world (I personally love fishing but don't get the chance to do it much), many of us enjoy the arts, history, dressing up and going to nice restaurants and the such. I personally love these kinds of activities. I have a bachelor's degree from a major university, speak another language and learning a third, just in the middle of starting my own company with several big contracts already in the pipeline. Now both of those things are independent of the other. My income and my interests. Many people have higher income and no interest in the arts, and many make much less and probably love these things even more than I do. I think you have to ask yourself which one of these are more important to you. I personally think the most important thing is finding a person who shares the same interests (and has others as well), whom you become best friends with. I also believe another thing about the guys you might choose to date in this area. It seems to me that although nice, many of the guys here can't even change a tire or do anything remotely mechanical. Many seem kind of feminized and have forgotten or never knew what it was like to me a man.
Why am I writing this? I'm not entirely sure, but I've been trying to figure out the dating scene around here. I've been divorced for about a year, so this is all new to me. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how I rank when it comes to other DC guys.

I'd date you if I wasn't already married! Also, your post kind of makes me want to be a firefighter...

Firefighters and cops are literally raping local government budgets. Why the f$$$k they need to work so much overtime. I had a fried who performed an internal audit at Fairfax and exposed all of the looting that goes on. Don't get me wrong...I appreciate public safety staff but I also know most hire under the "public safety" BS and just steal $$ from tax payers. Now...does this enhance your reputation?

Ok, I'll try to give an intelligent response to your opinion that I'm raping local government budgets. First of all I will address my overtime hours. The fact is that we have a difficult time maintaining the needed number of employees to cover minimus staffing. (minimum staffing is extremely important. when we don't have enough people on apparatus our mortality rate increases...firemen die. That is simply a fact. If you doubt it then I can back it up with facts. Also, the public suffers even greater. It wasn't very long ago that our poor staffing issues resulted in us not always being available to respond in a timely manner. I remember transporting a dying child in my arms in the back of a fire engine because an ambulance wasn't available.) So as a result I work a tremendous amount of overtime. Sure, it's at time-and-a-half, but you the citizen are saving because now your not paying for the extra insurance and benefits that the city would pay if we had more personnel. The higher than average salary I earn is also because of the high cost of living in the area. If you want to hire, train and retain qualified personnel then that is necessary as well. Otherwise, you'll be hiring, training...and loosing...the best personnel. They would start here and quickly move to a higher paying area where they aren't getting crushed on emergency runs all day and all night. And believe me, DC is busy as hell. We have one of the highest per capita run volumes in the entire nation. It's not uncommon for a fire engine or ambulance to make 30 emergency responses per 24 hour shift. At $90,000 per year I would say you're getting one hell of a bargain. My salary of nearly $150,000 is also a bargain. It's taken years for me to work up to the rank of Captain and the amount of responsibility I bare, coupled with the decisions I have to make are doubtfully equaled by any of your professions. Not to mention the personal sacrifices we make. I remember being off (paid of course) all summer while I healed from getting my forearms and hands burned in a pretty intense house fire. I have also worked countless Christmas Eves, birthdays and other holidays when I would have loved to have been home. Now don't get me wrong, I'm actually not complaining, I love my job and feel blessed. I am just pointing out that a salary where I can raise a family, put my kids through college and not live in a really bad neighborhood....is not "raping" local government budgets. Please, show me where I am wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find this post very interesting, especially the comment about dating/marrying a firefighter. I work as a firefighter (Captain) with Washington DC Fire Department. I feel as if I'm a combination of blue and white collar. I manage dozens of people, make decisions under the most stressful circumstances (literally life and death decisions), I manage inputting time for payroll, discipline, training, public relations, and dozens of other activities. However, at any time I can be in side of a burning building or working a shooting with blood everywhere. Sounds horrible, but I love thy job. I also wonder if most people realize what firefighters earn here in DC and I wonder if it would make a difference in the minds of everyone when it comes to viewing our "social status". Most young firemen make in the neighborhood of $80 to $90,000 per year before overtime and holidays. As a Captain I bring in around $150,000 base and around $200,000 after overtime. To be honest I don't even know how this stacks up against most of you...is it a decent salary for a "white collar" worker? Also, I know many, many other firemen who own businesses. Our unique schedule give us that opportunity that few other professions provide. We work for 24 hours straight, followed by 3 days off. In other words I work 2 days a week, allowing me 5 days a week to build my business. (We sleep at night between runs, so I may start the day a bit tired, but I'm functioning). I know more millionaire firemen than you would ever imagine. So does this put us in parity with other men in the potential dating pool for the average DC area female? Granted, most of the guys I work with are more into beer, football, hunting and fishing than many in the white collar world (I personally love fishing but don't get the chance to do it much), many of us enjoy the arts, history, dressing up and going to nice restaurants and the such. I personally love these kinds of activities. I have a bachelor's degree from a major university, speak another language and learning a third, just in the middle of starting my own company with several big contracts already in the pipeline. Now both of those things are independent of the other. My income and my interests. Many people have higher income and no interest in the arts, and many make much less and probably love these things even more than I do. I think you have to ask yourself which one of these are more important to you. I personally think the most important thing is finding a person who shares the same interests (and has others as well), whom you become best friends with. I also believe another thing about the guys you might choose to date in this area. It seems to me that although nice, many of the guys here can't even change a tire or do anything remotely mechanical. Many seem kind of feminized and have forgotten or never knew what it was like to me a man.
Why am I writing this? I'm not entirely sure, but I've been trying to figure out the dating scene around here. I've been divorced for about a year, so this is all new to me. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how I rank when it comes to other DC guys.

I'd date you if I wasn't already married! Also, your post kind of makes me want to be a firefighter...

Thanks! I'm seriously flattered! Now if I can just find a woman like you!