When I was very young, there was a common belief that men who weren't farmers (but not necessarily women) should work outside the home for a living, and if nothing else was available they could always get a job digging ditches.
Is that a job choice still widely available today? Do people still dig ditches - or is that a job reserved for machines today?
It was never a good job choice.
Yes, it's generally done with machines today, but the machines need operators so it's still sort of a job choice.
The big difference is that manual ditch digging by shovel was unskilled labor, but backhoe/excavator operator is a skilled job that takes a bit of training and not just anyone can do.
It used to be called 'pushing the idiot stick,' as there was a stick with a shovel blade at one end and an idiot at the other.
There's still a need for unskilled labor digging ditches, even with modern equipment involved. There is cleanup of equipment plus hauling materials. It may not be directly digging the ditch, but it's still support. I was eating lunch as Braum's and watched a city crew cleaning out a drainage ditch. The equipment operator would get a scoop of stuff, and depending upon what was coming out, needed someone to balance things or otherwise sort through the debris before it was loaded onto a truck for disposal.
'pushing the idiot stick,'
More typically an "Idiot Stick" is a Broom and/or Mop.
Shovels require a bit more skill, and it's easier to hurt someone else with a shovel.
There are "robot" sweepers and such, but to really do a proper job it requires a human being to actually know how to, and want to, do a good job.
In the words of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior, "If you are going to have a job requiring you to use a broom, You Sweep That Street With All of the Skill and Passion of Michelangelo Painting the Celling of the Sistine Chapple!"
The big difference is that manual ditch digging by shovel was unskilled labor, but backhoe/excavator operator is a skilled job that takes a bit of training and not just anyone can do.
And one backhoe/excavator operator with his machine can do – in the same time – the work of ten to thirty manual laborers with shovels.
Back then they could nearly always use one more man with a shovel (and they usually had some spare shovels), but today? Even if you are a trained backhoe/excavator operator, they usually don't have a spare machine for you.
HM.
My dad used to tell me to learn in school so I dont grow up to be a ditch digger.
Based on the number of works with shovels standing around a backhoe, I'd say yes, it's still a valid job "choice".
It's still a valid job.
Better 'a' job, than 'no' job. Too many people are afraid of manual labor these days. If you watch modern adverts regarding job placement, "Indeed" etc, it's played as if the only relevant jobs are skilled, either tech or skilled labor, or some combination.
It's to the point that society is being trained to look down on manual labor jobs.
Right about now, there are a whole lot of people learning the need for those manual labor jobs. There is no button to push to get the power lines back up in Florida.
I feel duty bound to point out that there is still a need for manual 'ditch' digging and the requirement for a flesh and bone worker to be present other than the machine operator.
The need is 'cables'. When pipes/cables/bombs are found, they are normally excavated by hand so as not to damage the underground service. That is why you normally see a person leaning on a shovel watching the digger bucket.
I don't think anyone ever digs. I drive past a state road project every morning and all the "workers" with shovels are just leaning on them. Pity, but if they ever invent a shovel that can stand up by itself, all those guys are going to be out of work!
if they ever invent a shovel that can stand up by itself, all those guys are going to be out of work!
FYI, I graduated in the early 70s, I got a summer hire job after high-school. I worked for the county road crews as a flagger/shovel operator. 4000+ square miles and 10 people were responsible for one third of it. Basically, we (two teens) were flunkies and labor. We had lots of shovel specific jobs. Irrigation ditches overflowing onto the roads had to be cleared. You use a shovel when repositioning stop signs and such. And after re-tarring a road, we stood on top of the sand truck spreading sand over the tar as it backed down the road. This was all maintenance work, not road construction. None of these jobs could be done by a back-hoe or front loader, without spending a fortune and taking lots of time to move equipment. On occasions when I have been back to my hometown, I have seen that the equipment has not changed that much.
There will always be people using shovels in road maintenance, construction, farming and other fields.
There will always be people using shovels in road maintenance, construction, farming and other fields.
True.
However the times were hundreds or even thousands of unskilled laborers were needed to build major works like highways, dams, canals, railroads, … are gone.
HM.
However the times were hundreds or even thousands of unskilled laborers were needed to build major works like highways, dams, canals, railroads, … are gone.
Not that long ago an economist working for the USA government was in Communist China, observing a major work project. Tens of thousands of Chinese laborers were using shovels. The Communist Chinese 🇨🇳 had plenty of bulldozers and other heavy equipment. Not only did they have steady overseas sales, at the time they were discounting surplus production of heavy construction equipment.
The US economist asked a Chinese official, "Why are so many people using shovels on such an important project.
The Chinese official seemed proud when he said, "Shovels allow us to employ more people on the project!"
The US economist pondered the work going on, then turned to the Chinese Communist official, and said, "Why not Spoons then?"
The old saying goes that if you didn't finish school you would spend your life digging ditches or pushing a broom the rest of your life.
Well I didn't finish school and I did spend 20 years digging ditches and pushing a broom. I just glad they told me it can pay a very good wage if it is union.