 Are Asians who work menial labor jobs looked down upon by other Asians? Let's talk about this. Yeah, this is a viral Reddit post. It's titled, Do you think it matters what kind of job an Asian male has? This guy goes on to say that he did not have traditional model minority career pass or anything in his life. He just made a couple of wrong decisions. I'm assuming just drug use. But he says basically he ended up lifting boxes and driving forklifts between warehouses. And now he's in process to get his math and economics degree in his own words to show white racists on the internet that I've argued with that I can be smart if I wanted to be. And then of course, Andrew, there was a bunch of people leaving comments in the comments section telling them this telling them that we're going to break it down. Make sure you like subscribe turning your notifications and check out smile. I saw a smile. I saw a comment Andrew. So there's a lot in this post, but do you agree with his original assertion that he thinks he's looked down upon because he's an Asian guy who didn't pick a proper corporate career path, but rather chose to work in factories. Yeah. So what I realized is this post that he made is actually not as much about other Asians looking down upon him for his jobs because Asians, right, the large group of Asians typically are high achievement and have to do better jobs, right? This is a stereotype. Either run your own business or you got degrees and you you're working a corporate job, right? But what his reason for feeling guilty and wanting to get his masters in economics and his math degree, which costs a lot of money to go back to school by the way, the reasoning is wrong to be like, oh, I want to show these white races because probably what I'm assuming happened on the internet. He got some arguments in the comment sections, right? And then like white people looked at his profile and then started making fun of him and doubting his knowledge based on his jobs. Right, right, right. So this is he's being motivated by Reddit Internet trolls. Yeah, trolling each other through past post history. So right off the bat, I'm going to tell you this guy that he's making the wrong decision for that. Yes, I'm not going to lie. There was a lot of people speculating in the comments section that he possibly was autistic or had Asperger's because it just seems like something by the way, this is not me. I'm just saying it seems like such a trivial thing to be motivated by. However, he does pose a good question. Do Asian guys have to have white collar or those like glamorous entrepreneurial careers to be respected within the Asian American community? I think that that is a valid question. Yeah, my quick answer to that before we get in the comment section is no, you don't have to have a good typical job. You shouldn't have to. But I do acknowledge that Asians that depending on your Asian background or where what type of family you come from and the opportunities given there is some expectations on an Asian to have a better job. But I personally find it refreshing sometimes when I meet Asians who are happy with their life working hard, working a labor blue collar job. We have some friends in New York locally that we see around town that like just they work like labor jobs like literally. But they're like we know somebody who drives the cars in like the Thanksgiving Day parades or for like whatever pride parade they have their job is to literally drive that car for that flow. And then there's also probably a number of Asian people who are hired on the team to clean up after the parade. So I'm saying what I'm saying is like those jobs are fine. And I think the key is that you're OK with it. And if you aren't OK with it, then don't do that job for too long. Move up, right? Right up in that position. I think one thing that's key is like even if you work something that some Asians consider a blue collar job, just do you have a potential career arc? If you're stacking boxes in the warehouse, is there a pathway to become an assistant warehouse manager? And potentially if you're really on point, you know, obviously everybody trusts your performance reviews, your discipline. You become the warehouse manager. Yeah, like is there some sort of arc available for sure? Even if it's blue collar because in 2024, Andrew, sometimes those jobs that are quote unquote blue collar being an electrician can pay more than a tech job. Yes, exactly. And there's more job security too because I can't replace a guy who's like fixing a power line where it's dangerous. Exactly, exactly. And I think that nowadays, at least amongst Asian Americans, the prestige and money don't always go together. Like what I mean is that maybe your job is not very prestigious like you are a garbage man, but you get paid good amount of money and you know how to live a good life. Then yeah, women are still going to want to date you. Maybe not the Ivy League Asian women. No, no. You don't need to date those types. Yeah, I would agree. I would say not really girls that have been raised in imperialized families like with imperial old thinking from the feudalistic days. If they, some people are subconsciously still trapped in those imperialistic hierarchies. But like you said, you can just find good looking women or women that you're attracted to just good fit that don't think like that. And that's still a very large portion of Asians. I will say that this is key though. You know what I realized Andrew? For all Asian guys, whether they are going into the white collar field, the more entrepreneurial field or the blue collar fields, right? And they all have their own arcs, right? Potentially of a ladder and a pyramid that you can rise up. You have to, in a way, you have to figure out looks maxing, charisma maxing and common sense maxing. I think that those three things are actually hyper overlooked and hyper important for any Asian guy in 2024 because I think that the looks and the charisma it's going to give you like an extra bump in terms of like promotions like in any path that you pick your career arc will look faster and steeper and that's just human nature. And some people are going to say, why is that? I think more windows open up windows of opportunity and more reps and then the common sense maxing Andrew. A lot of people nowadays Andrew are kind of smart. They're kind of clever, but an increasing amount of people in the American population Andrew lack common sense. So don't focus on getting this guy Andrew should not focus on getting the PhD in economics and math. He should focus on getting the PhD in common sense. Oh, and also another thing is I think you need to expand your networks through like different hobbies, but you need to have your hobbies be around like higher tier people. You know what I'm saying? Let's say for example, you love playing basketball Andrew. You're unlikely you're going to do a lot of hardcore business networking, playing street ball. Why don't you join an organized basketball league that costs a lot of money to go into? You're going to meet a lot of people who are very structured type people across all professions in that basketball. Right, right. And maybe maybe you are a garbage man as your day job, but you have a hobby in watches or you have a hobby in, you know, just something like fixing up cars. Yeah, are you like reading books or say, you know what I'm saying? Like your hobbies can also put you around other types of people that can also help your life. So there's a whole bunch of that. Yeah, your hobby as a means of networking. Yes, yes, yes. But of course, different hobbies. Like if I want to soup up like Scion X B's versus I want to soup up Porsches, it is going to be a different crowd with the Porsches than with the Scions, right? Somebody said, do not get yourself into debt for a degree unless you are planning to use it. This is something I wish more of my Asian brothers would follow. What do you think in 2024? Yeah, I don't think you need to get a degree blindly. I think there's a ton of ways to make money. And David, beyond prestige, you know what people respect in this world is money. It's true, particularly in America, too. Yes, there is a light of blue collar heroes here more than other countries. But I would say I think globally all around because money just gets you more things that you want in your life. Yes, in 2024, money almost means more than it did in the past because back in the day, more royal imperialistic structures were in place so the status well, there's also just more things to buy now. This guy said no, I disagree. Please become elite because we will never fit the rugged and compensatory masculinity that the working class men try to shore up and score points on anyway. So all Asian guys should try to be as elite as possible and only do strenuous manual labor in the gym so we can be buff. So this was an argument Andrew for elitism and this also guy also made another argument in favor of Asian guys pursuing more white collar elitist pass because he said that because like if we don't lean into the positive stereotypes, then we'll have nothing because we'll only we already all have to take the negative stereotypes, but we can't really shift the stereotypes. So we have to double down on the positive model minority side. Interesting. I don't know if I agree with being elite only. Yeah, I don't know. I don't I don't agree with it. You know, I see what his point is, but I just don't think that's going to work. You know what I think that these guys advice may be Andrew? It may be true for their life, but they're not considering that America is a gigantic diverse place with hyper divergent fish bowls. A lot of people don't understand that somebody said, you know, you can make 200 K a year doing a lot of blue collar work and I was just thinking about and we know like I said a high risk electrician that works for the city in L.A. He's Asian Andrew makes 200 K a year. He's still able to live a blue collar lifestyle and now he's tried by properties with all the money that he saved up from being an electrician, but it's true that yeah, if he was trying to date like a certain type of girl from a certain type of family, maybe the parents would count that against him until he has like five houses or something like that. Right. Um, ultimately Andrew, what do you think it is man? Is the Asian world changing and does it like or does it just matter what family you come from? Maybe you could come from a family that came to America as refugees started a landscaping business, right? Or you could, your parents came to be like professors or something hyper technical. I guess it's not going to impact whether or not you pick a white collar or blue collar career or be an entrepreneur. Yeah, it's all about where you started. Obviously, if you have paid for a college degree and you have loans out and you're only stacking boxes in an Amazon warehouse, you're probably not doing enough. You could probably do much better than that and you should be, but ultimately it depends on where you started from and what the expectations are from your family. Man, I know a lot of different types of Asians and they don't all come from educated backgrounds and all that stuff and their parents aren't like, you know, all about education and they don't like focus on that type of stuff. So honestly, I think as Asians, the best way is like as long as Asians, you're hardworking and you are constantly trying to get better. I think that's the best for the overall Asian sphere. I don't think you have to be elite. I don't think Asians only have to get you know, to be Ivy League, private equity, fancy suits and all this bespoke type lifestyle. I don't think it's like a foregone conclusion like that Asians can't be good blue collar people. I know plenty of Asians that are like good solid blue collar people. I know a lot of Southeast Asians that are blue collar, but they still do really well in the blue collar lane. Yeah, exactly. They figure it out. I'll tell you this. Life is more about figuring out your lane and figuring out the game IQ for that given situation. Like life is a lot about that. In America, in particular, there's a lot of money in every sector, whether you go blue collar sector, entrepreneurial sector, white collar sector, white collar entrepreneur, more like tech startups. There's money everywhere in America. And as long as you like kind of dedicate yourself to one of those lanes and you ultimately figure it out because you like it more, you will find success in any four of those given lanes. So don't feel bad that just because oh, you got a cousin and he works at Apple or whatever like that. And you work for the school district in Parks and Recs. Some of the Parks and Recs managers can make a lot depending on what city they're in. They stack OT, they figure out the system. So I think that, you know, unfortunately there is this imperialistic Confucian hierarchy of professions that we can acknowledge is real from the old days, but we can break free from it being more American. But at the end of the day, as far as our experience here goes, it's just how well you figure out your own life. Yeah. And I would just say whatever system you're in, if it's a blue collar system, white collar system, try to master it. Master your system. Be a master of your system, whatever that system is, even you a garbage man. Be a great garbage guy. You'll do the best job. You'll make the most money. You'll get promoted and you can do other things and it's just good to be good at what you do. Yeah. Play the game like Jalen Brunson. Don't play it like Jordan Pool where he just does some moves and he's not even thinking. Just be like Jalen Brunson for whatever lane you pick in life. Let us know what you guys think of this in the comments section below. Do Asian guys have to get white collar work, elite work, or can they stay in the blue collar lanes? Maybe be an entrepreneur. Let us know what you think of the comment section below. Until next time, we're the Hop Hop Boys. We out. Peace.