Blue Collar

   What Mike is arguing against in "Blue Collar"  is the stereotype that blue and pink collar jobs don't require any thought or intelligence.  What Mike is arguing for is that even though blue collar people might not have a higher level of education as white collar people, but the jobs of blue collar workers require an extreme amount of both physical and mental work. Mike Rose uses his mother as an example, that even though she was a pink collar worker, her job as a waitress requires a high level of memorization. He states remembering as a younge boy watching his mother take orders and memerizing who had the hamburger, who had the fried shrimp, almost getting it all right. Mike Rose also includes how his uncle learned how to increase efficiency on the line and at the same time relieve some of the stress on the assemblers. His uncle was able to do so because coming off the line as he did he had experience that allowed him to know the different aspects of his work space. Mike Rose believes that the amount of intelligence and physical labor of a blue collar worker is equivalent to that of a white collar worker.
    Mike's essay relates to Terkel's chapter about Mike because they both deny the idea that blue collar work is work that requires no intelligence. The Mike in "Who built the pyramids" gets angry when his co-worker (a college kid) is amazed at the fact that he can read, as if he assumes since a factory job doesn't require a higher educational level that such a job doesn't require intelligence. Mike writes in"Blue Collar" that intelligence is often equated to the level of education that one gets but just because someone doesn't have that education doesn't mean that they aren't intelligent. These people gain intelligence not from school but through learning and experiences they have in work.