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Welding is like sewing. Any old mug can darn a sock… but to repair a historically important high quality silk sock to such a high standard that the repair is invisible to the naked eye takes an elite level of crafts(wo)manship that very few would ever attain. Not a perfect analogy but close enough…
I understand that welding takes skill. But I'm more wondering why I've personally talked to several parents/grandparents with kids about to graduate highschool with poor grades - and nearly everyone of those people has said that college isn't the right choice for their kid, so they're going to go into the trades and become a welder.
So far, none of the kids I'm referring to have actually become a welder. Are those family members saying their kid is going to become a welder because of the skill involved at the highest level of the craft? Is welding the blue collar equivalent of becoming an artist?
My childhood friend became a welder. But my suspicion is that it's a skilled trade that doesn't sound gross (plumbing) or super dangerous (electrician). Everyone knows we need welders, they understand what they do too. All this makes it the perfect thing to assume your kid is going to do when they decide not to go to college. Actually going to trade school and apprenticing on the other hand…
Yeah, I think not sounding gross or dangerous is part of it - combined with the skill level. Personally, my in-laws encouraged my nephew not to go to college, but instead to become a welder - or an electrician as a backup plan.
He did neither and now works for the city cleaning sewers. It's a needed job and pays ok, but no one ever says "you don't need to go to college, you can clean a sewer." It's always "you can be a welder."