What is blue collar these days? I’m not entirely sure, but Blue Collar is working its way through the media. First, the New Yorker’s “Blue Collar Gold” article (which unfortunately is not available online), which is all about how comedians like Jeff Foxworthy sell out shows nationwide; and recently, list-obsessed Forbes comes out with a list of highest paying blue collar jobs.

It’s certainly not just about the money one earns anymore. A previous New Yorker article about the Mob and longshoremen — also unavailable online, but this Q&A with the author is — dropped a crazy number for the amount that certain head longshoremen get paid. Something like $150,000 or above … and mind you this is not for hauling shit with those hooks, but operating machines that do the heavy lifting.

According to Forbes, the top blue collar job is public transportation, which for the purposes of the article includes subways, trains and strangely flight attendants. Their average hourly is $29.85 and their average salary is $62k.

Second is longshoremen ,although the Forbes article places their average hourly at $27.98 and annual at $58k.

For our international readers, a brief explanation: blue collar has historically been associated with jobs that require manual labor. Examples include a construction worker, a plumber, janitor, etc. This can also mean more broadly, unskilled labor. White collar workers are “skilled” (ha ha), although I think any type of office or desk job is considered white collar — skilled or not. Also: it’s not uncommon to see a white collar worker hauling office supplies of some sort through midtown, but that doesn’t count as manual labor for this discussion. That just counts as sad.

We consulted AOL’s “Homework Help” for insight and more on the origins of the term:

“The name comes from the blue workshirts that so many manual laborers wore/wear. The shirt was cheap, could get dirty, was easily washed, and lasted a long time.”

So while it seems that manual labor is still a necessary part of any blue collar job, is it right for telemarketing and call center reps to be considered white collar jobs? What about working 90-hr weeks doing brainless tasks but getting Paid?
Anyway, if you’re feeling blue because your hourly is not much higher, just repeat “it’s all about the income potential” to yourself 10x.