exausting

I might be a magnet for anomalies but every welder I know is either a woman or non-binary and gay as hell.

I swear to god this is so true! There are two welder "foremen" at my job. One recently came out as a trans woman, the other one has hoop earrings and acrylic nails.
- Hell yeah
The trades can attract fairly diverse people because you don't have to fit into an office. Generally you're just given your work and you're expected to do it. Welders especially can easily be specialized enough that they can't really be micromanaged.
The only welder I know is a cishet guy but super woke. That said his union is very not

Fuck that. An ex of mine (we're still friends) is a welder, non-binary, and doesn't put up with homophobic shit.

But have they tried gender studies? They might learn just how good they have it being a welder.
- FWIW, they also do some modeling work on the side while also being polyamorous, are fully open about it at work, and have never had a problem with cat calls or anything like that.
- A good chunk of welders that I know are very gender nonconforming.

You joke but going from manual Labor to sitting in a chair all day fucks you up.

You don't realise how much free exercise, stretching and general health points you get from moving around all day.

You also have to cut your caloric intake or you'll stack on the weight.

That’s not even considering the existential dread that comes with having your soul sucked into fluorescent lights and listening to the idiotic words, phrases and mannerisms of the people you’re forced to sit by.
Someone in my office always says “dut da da” as a stand-in for “et cetera” and it drives me batty. Another person has daily lung-shredding coughs and doesn’t cover their mouth. Another person screams and squeals like a pig when they’re talking on the phone.
And I get the pleasure of hearing it every single workday, every single week!
Lucky me!
- They're always looking for brickies labours
Used to work 9 hours a day stacking pallets. It was great until my body couldn't handle it. Even so, losing that exercise has clearly impacted my health. I'm not dying or anything, but it felt easier to smile. I wouldn't even say I'm unhappy. I don't know how else to describe it.

As a current tradesman who is regularly burned, electrocuted, and cut on the job while rolling around in filthy crawl spaces, dragging 100 lb of gear up a ladder onto scorching rooftops, or freezing inside walk in deep freezers... working an IT desk job was way worse.

I would sooner stick my tongue in a 480V panel than have to go back to answering "printer don't work" tickets.

God you make me so happy to have my work from home IT desk job. The secret is to get the hell out of help desk and into something more specialized/higher level. Glad you made peace with your circumstances though
- I was actually tier 3 support. I just also happened to be the sole support for one specific area which meant even low level tickets from there got automatically directed to me.
  Earlier hyperbole aside, I honestly fuckin love my job now. If I didn't rely on having an income, I would still be doing this for free. But working a desk job drove me nuts. I'm sure it's great for a lot of people but I just can't do it.

imma be honest. welding (in a shop) aint that hard. i have to weld here and there as part of my job, and it is pretty fucking easy after a 1 week long schooling

And here I am. Not quite a welder, but a trans machinist. It's getting impossible to keep up the work, though.