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Comment by dmos62 | Hacker News Reader

I often wondered why doesn't everyone want to be a construction worker. We've all seen what they can do. Make huge structures appear out of thin air. Change the way space is. It's magic. And all the gadgets. Gigantic hydraulic arms, cranes, tractors of all sizes.

Instead we're paid heaps for programming. Which kind of makes sense. In my mind, programming is about making sense of a mess. Untangling all the seemingly conflicting wishes, concepts and circumstances into something simple. Programmers live off complexity the way insects live off a compost bin. Or, to be more romantic, the way a lotus flowers in dirty water. We recycle, break down and refine. Apparently, it has its place.

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Because it's not as fun as a kid using building blocks. You'd just be doing a single job over and over again into monotony and it's filled with permits, inspections, waiting, etc so projects get dragged out and you don't get thr same gratification as you would if it were done faster and all parts done by you.

> Because it's not as fun as a kid using building blocks.

But is that the fault of the occupation or the occupee?

The occupation, as I explained in the rest of the comment. It's just not as stimulating.

I know you said that, I just disagree. I think it's in the person. You can reframe anything: air conditioning (horrible), sitting at a desk (oh no), your work not having any tangible results (get me out of here), being indoors all day (why is this happening to me).

This deeply resonates with me. I LOVE building things, I just happen to build things in my head instead of the real.

I've always described my job as taking a bunch of funny shaped pieces and artfully filling in the gaps so they connect in a cohesive manner. The thinking part is the artful and cohesive bit. Kinda like kintsugi but with made-up languages and scrums and PMs/DMs.

> I often wondered why doesn't everyone want to be a construction worker.

I don't like hard physical work. I don't like sweating. Much prefer to sit on my ass in front of a computer and pretend to work while i scroll endlessly through twitter.

Can you sit on anything without sitting on your ass?

Now I'm thinking about what 'sitting' actually means.

It's easy to look at those construction workers and think "Wow, those dudes have real jobs" because they get to build huge skyscrapers or subways.

But they're looking right back at you thinking the same exact thing, because you get to work on your laptop in an air conditioned office and don't go home smelling like sweat, dirt, and fumes.

There's a great quote from Bud Smith's book Work that has much better wording with the same idea, but I can't find it

Crane operators are actually one of the highest ranked professions in terms of job satisfaction.

I’m not surprised, it looks really fascinating. The view alone is probably often amazing, and imagining getting into a flow state while operating a crane seems like it would be amazing. I would assume you begin to embody the crane over time the way people do when they drive a lot, the feeling must be expansive. You probably feel quite powerful.

"Software is eating then world "

Companies need software to make profits, and so, at least for the moment, need people who can do that software. That raises prices.

Construction doesn't pay that well in most parts of the world.

> I often wondered why doesn't everyone want to be a construction worker.

I thought this was going to be a witty officespace reference.

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