i spent 17 years working in the laboratories of a paint manufacturing company.
left school, didn't know what i wanted to do in life but never really fancied office work as i couldn't stand the idea of being stuck behind a desk all day.
ideally i would have liked an outdoor job like gardening or country park ranger but i drifted into the paint factory because it was close to home, the hrs suited me and the money was good at the time.
work was fine for the first few years, it was a family run firm with a family atmosphere, very easy going, certainly not hard graft. over the ears though the family owners retired and more professional managers came in who changed the procedures and demanded more work for less money.
the company gradually went downhill due to bad management, we had no pay rise whatsoever for the last 6 years and the pension fund disappeared, redundancies started to be made and they then expected you to do the work of the missing people for no extra money, i was finally made redundant on xmas eve, 2005.
ive since retrained as a corgi registered gas engineer which i hope will lead to well paid and life-long career.
i thought a trade was the best option as i'm too old to get into office work (and i still think its boring) and factories are closing down every day, too scared to borrow money and start my own business, and i like the practical nature of the gas work and meeting people.
i know what you mean about office workers but i guess they can get stressed and overworked in their own right. my best mate worked in a call centre and he tells me they are known as the factories of the 21st century!
the feeling i did have when i worked at the factory though was that we were seen as the lowest of the low by other people, there was a time though when a skilled factory worker could earn really good money.
i sometimes think it would be nice to go to work in nice clothes and not get dirty, the