The lives we live are relatively easy. We are so privileged but the reasons that we have such a  high standard of living are forgotten. Blue collar workers have some of the hardest jobs considering their compensation, monetary or otherwise. And us dismissing them and for us writing off the general population for not contributing to the world as we would like them to so quickly, is not right. Especially when they contribute a lot more than most.

These people are used as examples as to what will happen if you don’t do well in high school or go to college and become a “functioning member of society,” but they are more important than we think. Using them as an example of how bad your life will become when you don’t do what is expected of you simply isn’t right because without them, we wouldn’t have lives that are as easy as they are.

Blue-collar workers includes anyone who performs manual labor. They are the cashiers, the custodians and the sanitation engineers. Every day we make them the butt of some joke and forget that they are people with dynamic personalities and lives just like us. They still are worthy of basic respect

Think about our lives without cashiers and waiters, custodians and factory workers. They’re people you love to bash on and say they don’t deserve a wage that is necessary to survive. But just imagine how it would be without that person taking your order at the Starbucks drive-thru, the custodians not there to clean the cafeteria when you decide that it’ll be OK to leave your half-finished bag of chips and soda. Think about how it would be if the garbage truck drivers didn’t come to your house every week to get your trash, and what you would do without the phone in your hand that was made by someone who works in a factory and is struggling to live.

Regardless of the views and debate on the minimum wage in the U.S., people in manual jobs deserve more appreciation than what they currently receive. This doesn’t mean that you have to stage protests and go to the White House to ban sweatshops. Be aware of your surroundings, throw your trash away or just be kind to them. It’s not that hard. Say thank you when your waiters serve you your food and take your plate when it’s done. Be kind, don’t think that without them everything will be fine because blue-collar jobs may not seem like much work but, if they didn’t do that work, it’s unlikely that we would do it in place of them.