You shoulda been a.... Plumber!

Welcome to my first post ever in a new series entitled: You shoulda been a...  In this series, I will be outlining career paths you probably never thought of as visions of prestige blossomed in that brain of yours.

When people speak of prestigious careers, two do not come to mind.  The first is street sweeper/garbage man, and the second is plumber.  But there's nothing prestigious about six figure debt, and the truth is, being a plumber can provide you with a sweet life.

A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." (wikipedia)

Now, not everything is great about the life of a plumber.  I have a family member who is a plumber, and while he's not a billionaire, he certainly makes more than many of my readers who have fancy TT, TTT, TTTT, T, and T14, T6, etc. degrees.  There's a lot of T's in law, but how many T's are in the world Plumber?

None

First piece of career advice: if the profession has a lot of T's in it, run away.  Lucky for you, plumber has zero T's in it, and there's always going to be the need for a lot of plumbers.  Unlike law, plumbers are needed by almost every individual that poops in water.  That's because toilets, sinks, and pipes break down sometimes.  Also, when BigLaw associates need homes built, they will need some sort of piping, and when those pipes clog with backdoor ruffage, it's going to be the plumbers that will come to the rescue.

Further, unlike law school, the cost of being a plumber is low.  Plumbers can learn under another plumber.  There is no three years of plumbing school where one must pay $45k or more a year just to get in.  There's no high opportunity cost of learning plumbing.  In fact, while one learns, one can have a part time job on the side.  Think for a moment, actually earning while learning! 

A job you can take anywhere

Say you want to learn international law.  Do you really think you'll get a job at the UN or in France?  Do you see yourself practicing a multi country legal case in Thailand?  Do you have visions of being taxied around Hong Kong before heading back to the US?  I did!  However, if I was told that this can be a reality in plumbing, I would have blushed.  The truth is, every country has toilets, and those toilets need to be kept in working order.

While you may never work in the UN as a law student, plumbers are routinely called into buildings like the UN, the White House, and other famous places.  If you want to fix a stopped up sink in Bali, whose gonna stop you?  The ABA?!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Plumbing is truly a job that you can take anywhere with you!  And it pays well to boot!

How much money does a plumber make?Like all jobs, it depends.  Some plumbers do well, and others don't.  Many hang up a shingle and find work that way.  Many companies want plumbers.  Good plumbers who are willing to get their arms brown. Are you willing to get your arms brown, or do you just want to get your nose brown at a big firm?  Huh?  Something to think about.

But what about fame and prestige?  Plumbers are not known the world over like big time lawyers!Oh really?  You never heard of this guy? 



But I want to help others, so I should be a lawyer, because then I can help other people.
I forgot that appearing at someone's home at 1:32 AM and unclogging their flooding toilet (if you so choose) isn't considered helping them out.  Silly me.  I guess you can only help another person if you are a lawyer.  I forgot that being a lawyer was a prerequisite (a word many can not actually pronounce) to being a helpful individual.  I guess then you should not be a plumber if you are worried about not being able to help a family in need (/sarcasm).
In conclusion, consider plumbing!