I guess I don't really consider skilled trades "blue collar". There's as much to learn for those skill sets as there is for mgmt types that go to college for a degree. I think that term came to be after WWII when folks either wore suit and tie to work or a "uniform" of sorts - not about what it took to learn how to do the job.
My one grandfather had a heavy equipment business. He said the world will always need ditch diggers - his was just on a way bigger scale. My other grandfather had a heating business and brother, business was good. He spent the better part of 3 decades switching folks from coal and heating oil to forced air. AC hadn't quite started when he retired. I should've done either of those businesses. It was there for taking (buying), but I have no regrets.
