Most of the blue collar coworkers I've had knew full well that you just needed to add some hydrocodone into the mix and you'd be fine w/ a few hundred mg on the acetaminophen for a full shift.

Hmm, a bunch of high IQ people conclude that it’s dumb as hell to destroy your body for worse wages than coding. Who would have thought?

Why should we feel sorry for the skilled trades again? Mechanics are expert famous scammers worse than lawyer (grandma just replaced her blinker fluid!) That’s just one example. Leak detection companies are nearly all scammers too.

No, I haven't, but that doesn't absolve people of their responsibility in actively deciding to chronically overdose on pain meds, if that's what they're doing.

What’s your point here?