There’s an old joke about plumbers that goes like this; all you need to know to be a plumber is that hot water is on the left, cold water is on the right, sewage flows downhill, don’t bite your fingernails, the boss is a jerk, payday is Friday at 4 o’clock, followed by beer Friday at 4:15. Managing blue collar workers has been and always will be challenging.
There are a lot of great, conservative working class folks who manage their life and money well. However, there are also a lot of working class folks who have a lot of drama, are frequently short of money and life-plan poorly. Payday equals beer and cigarettes is a more common approach than payday and a 401k contribution. Many grew up in households where living from paycheck to paycheck was the norm. Or as comedian Jeff Foxworthy says, “You might be a redneck if you think the stock market has a fence around it.”