Over the past week, Jason and I have been trying to resurrect a 375,000 mile New York City taxi cab from the dead. As such, we’ve been running around junkyards and car parts stores and mechanics shops. One such store is Advance Auto Parts, which offers “Veterans Only” parking. Jason and I, keen to avoid “stealing valor,” always chose not to park there, though it became apparent upon entering the store that I had stolen valor of another kind.
A year ago or so my wife — tired of seeing me stain my nice clothes — bought me a Mercedes coverall from Pasadena’s famous Rose Bowl Flea Market. A blue coverall with a Mercedes star on the chest, it’s awesome but nothing really that special as far as coveralls go. I didn’t really think too much of it.
But the moment I started wearing this collared onesie I noticed people treating me significantly differently, and not in the way I expected. Parts store clerks and junkyard attendees and even restaurant cashiers are often downright deferential towards me, showing a respect that reminds me of how my dad — a 26 year-army veteran who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel — used to sometimes be greeted by much of the general public.
I’ve been paying close attention to this lately, and I don’t think it’s in my head; people call me “sir” more often and seem to respect my opinion more and seem to offer me better service. It’s similar to when I meet a car-person who has been reading my articles for years — you can tell if someone holds you in higher-than-usual regard. It’s just obvious.
This got me wondering: What is it that has people treating me like that Mercedes star on my chest is the medal of honor? Is it just the fact that I’m wearing coveralls? How much is the badge playing into it?
I’m not entirely sure, but I do think that Americans — and just people in general — respect hard work, and they respect expertise. I think that’s woven into the fabric of this country. When we see a surgeon in scrubs, we respect the knowledge they have and all the time they devoted to gain it. When we hear someone is an engineer, we often show respect towards them for the same reason. When we see a soldier, we often respect the sacrifices they have to make to their bodies to protect this nation.
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Obviously, I’m making some blanket statements here, and these kinds of things all depend on context. I was hanging out in mostly automotive circles, so the folks I was dealing with might be more inclined to show reverence towards someone they perceive as a technician for a German car brand known for making some of the finest (and most complicated — i.e. hard to fix) cars in the world. Still, it seems that we as a society hold in high regard those who do a difficult job, especially if it’s one that requires expertise and sacrifice.
Being a Mercedes tech definitely qualifies. We all probably know someone with an overcomplicated Mercedes that’s absurdly complex/expensive to fix. People who have to repair these cars really deal with some shit, and if they’re a Mercedes Tech they deal exclusively with vastly over-engineered German parts and wealthy customers who are often demanding jerks. That’s rough.
Anyway, I think it’s great that a job that is often referred to as “blue collar” gets that kind of respect. And I think that now — with a chronic technician shortage in America — the way people see mechanics is hopefully something that’s changing. In Germany, the gap between an automotive technician and an engineer is small, but here in the U.S., I have found there to be a giant social chasm between the “white collar” job and the “blue collar” one. It’s all silly, really.
I think we should respect everyone equally and not based on what they do for a living or how they look, but that’s not really how the world works. As soon as I tell the car-parts clerk that I’m not actually a Mercedes tech and that I had been stealing valor, the joy in their face shifts to disdain, they pull from the counter the packet of brake caliper grease they were going to give me for free, and their face flushes red with embarrassment that they actually asked me for advice on how to fix their car’s misfire issue. It is clear I have now become just another schmuck in their eyes; but I’m OK with that. It’s accurate.
Top graphic images: David Tracy; Broad City/Comedy Central
[Ed Note: If you, like David, have lived under a rock, I am pleased to explain the woman in the topshot is Illana Glazer from Comedy Central’s Broad City. You may recognize her from the very popular GIF below! – Pete]
We all have uniforms, whether we know it or not. Unfortunately, mine often involves a full suit and tie. The good part about my “uniform,” is you can basically do whatever you want as a white man in a suit. Is that right or fair? Certainly not, but it’s been true in my experience.
What are some things the suit helps you get away with?
Add a high-vis waistcoat and a clipboard and you can wander into most places unchallenged.
2 instances that back up your theory:
Worked as a Service Writer in a Toyota dealership. Most mechanics wore normal Toyota uniforms and were treated like regular Joes, but one guy took to wearing a lab coat and customers initially regarded him as smarter until he opened his mouth and proved he wasn’t any smarter than anyone else.
Sat on a jury for a murder trial and tried hard not to be chosen as the foreman…until everyone was asked what they did for a living. I’m an aircraft engineer; suddenly I was a genius and the obvious choice for foreman. Fortunately, the defendant cut a deal before the trial got started and I wasn’t forced to prove how normal I am.
“I’m an aerospace engineer” has become my go to marketing gimmick when trying to sell my engineering services.
It seems to be mostly working.
Brands do carry a lot of weight, whether people want to admit it or not. When people see a Chevy technician in their coveralls, they assume they’ve just been doing sloppy American car stuff, but when somebody comes in with a BMW/Mercedes coverall there’s this air of German precision and sophistication, even if the work is just as dirty. When I’m in my BMW dealership uniform, people think I’m fancy when the reality is that I get paid a very average salary to do what is basically glorified customer service work.
This is a very interesting phenomenon I can add to. I’ve worked at most of the US based OEMs, and there is always a divide between the coverall wearing technicians, collared shirt wearing engineers, and the suits from higher up. You can feel it in the interactions.
I spent several months working at the Honda tech center in Ohio. There, everyone is required to wear the same Honda branded scrubs. From the janitors to the techs to the senior engineers. The employees there appreciated that it wasn’t their own clothes that were getting oily, but there was a much more interesting phenomenon.
Since everyone was dressed the same, there was a lot more openness, even comradarie across these hierarchies. A senior engineer would come down to the lab and the techs would be way more open and they’d even joke around with each other. Something I basically never saw at the other OEMs. Someone in a nice buttoned shirt and fancy shoes coming to the garage would usually shut many of the mechanics up unless they were spoken to directly, or were fired up about something. There was always an underlying feeling of conflict that wasn’t present at Honda.
That’s not unlike why some schools require uniforms so the status conferred on students who wear expensive clothing is (hopefull) eliminated.
Yup, now what would have been perfect is if that coverall’s collar was blue…”blue collar” Get it?
(That’s it for today folks! I’ll see myself out…)
P.S. It’s so nice of Mercedes (Streeter) to let you borrow her coveralls!
I think people respect engineers because trains are cool.
I can only imagine the look of uncontrolled excitement and then utter disappointment on 5 y/o me’s face if I could somehow go back in time to tell him that he would one day become an engineer, but not that kind of engineer
“When we see a surgeon in scrubs, we respect the knowledge they have and all the time they devoted to gain it.”
That person could also be a dental hygienist. Or a hairdresser.
“When we hear someone is an engineer, we often show respect towards them for the same reason.”
DO engineers get respect? Because a Ph.D. in the sciences generally gets you bupkiss. Unless it’s from someone from the alumni center hitting you up for donations.
“When we see a soldier, we often respect the sacrifices they have to make to their bodies to protect this nation.”
Best advice I ever got was to forgo the thanks for their service and to welcome them home instead. Far too many people just throw out an insincere thanks and it gets old.
I’m a chartered mechanical engineer in the UK. That’s a degree, plus several years of experience, plus jumping through all the hoops to get an engineering institute to allow you to join. It means the letters after my name are now longer than my actual name.
This gets me no respect at all. People outside of engineering think of oily spanners and assume that I’m basically the same as the guy who overtightens your wheel nuts when you get new tyres.
When I go to schools to promote engineering careers the teachers always send me the kids who are failing all their exams and need a “practical job”.
Those kids sound perfect for HR.
The last time I was in a redundancy process HR put me (a mechanical design engineer) in the same pool as an analysis engineer, product engineer and a development engineer. All of us with decades of experience in those roles and specific qualifications. There were only two jobs for the four of us, and when I asked HR for job descriptions they said “engineer”.
I tried explaining that any two of us couldn’t do the work of the other two, and eventually the said that the two roles they would be keeping were “engineers”.
Maybe? Aside from most of my mom’s side of the family seeing me as sort of a failure for not rushing out to get married and have babies, in the nearly 18 years I’ve been working as a mechanical engineer, only two negative reactions stand out – an insurance agent who was horrified that my work involves supporting nuclear power plants, and a hair stylist who claimed to have never heard of mechanical engineering, and compared it to a glorified title (e.g., “sanitation engineer” instead of “garbage collector”).
In the workplace, the engineers who make an effort to go look at parts, observe testing, and otherwise have some contact with people in production tend to be viewed much more favorably by the people in that department. Other administrative positions don’t seem to have much of an opinion one way or another about the engineers until they need something…then the engineers are either AMAZING for knowing this information, or absolutely horrible because they didn’t drop everything and get right to work on their request.
“An insurance agent who was horrified that my work involves supporting nuclear power plants”
That agent is a fool. Nuclear power is one of the very safest means to generate power and has been ever since its inception despite a few, very publicized tragedies. An insurance agent should appreciate that fact more than anyone.
Besides would that agent prefer nuclear plants to NOT be supported?
I’m a freelance engineer. Also called engineering consultant here. When I was looking for a insurance for my business, all the companies claiming to be specialized in consultancy became blabbering fools once I explained my work involves designing aircrafts and could impact passenger safety.
It doesn’t matter that it’s the safest way to travel.
Yeah, if engineers immediately fix something we’re amazing, but if we have to investigate, perform analysis, then design and validate a solution we’re just messing around.
Try applying the Scotty Principle to your next task:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Scotty%20Principle
Hmm, I’ve got a boiler suit I covered in Triumph patches. Maybe I’ll wear that on my next trip to o’Rileys or Autozone.
Here’s a story idea:
Put on those overalls (make sure they’re spotlessly clean) , then drive down to Long Beach to the old DC Jets (Douglas Company) hanger where MBUSA has it’s Preparation Center, Classic Center and Tech Training Center – and walk in the front door.
*Hilarity Ensues*
3860 N Lakewood Blvd
Long Beach, California 90808
When people see your Mercedes coveralls they’re thinking, “If I befriend this tech then I have a Mercedes Guy!” Then they ask you for free advice.
You are 1000% reading these reactions correctly. And for the good of everyone’s day, you should continue the charade (you have the knowledge and experience to back it up anyway). The clerk who looked so disappointed after you told him the truth is evidence enough… just let people believe.
I used to work at an OEM powertrain testing facility doing project engineering on test engines. I had to wear a three piece suit for meetings with clients, but I also had to crawl round oily engines when things fell off or caught fire.
You get zero respect from everyone wearing a cheap black suit that stinks of oil.
Should have gone with an Xsuit, yeah, they feel like wearing an 80s tracksuit, and you don’t want to stand near open flames, but you can throw the thing in the washer at home anytime it gets dirty
David in the name of science, you have to continue this experiment. Next, switch to a blue coverall with a different brand logo. Any of the “ordinary” brands will do, like Hyundai or Chevrolet. See what kind of reaction you get then. The final leg of the experiment is a blue coverall with no logo.
Genius!
The final part of the experiment, after the plain control overall, would be one with the logo of a low-end oil change place with a terrible reputation.
Then wear them all again to run an a-b-a test to cancel out any upwards or downwards trends in DT’s inherent respectability.
Obviously the real final experiment would be to not wear anything to eliminate the clothing variable
That’s some damn fine science right there!
I think it’s time gm brings back the Goodwrench branding and the pit crew inspired uniforms at the dealerships. It stood out, in a good way.
How about one from a dead brand? Pontiac, Studebaker, Tucker, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Packard, Triumph, Plymouth, Mercury, AMC, etc.
Schwinn
Schwinn isn’t dead. Its just mostly dead.
What we need is a miracle.
Don’t hold your breath 🙁
Don’t rush me, sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
No rush. I’ve already got my Schwinns.
That list hurt to read. Fuck I’m old.
Also one with a NASA logo…
I think, he can skip Tesla logo.
“ Americans — and just people in general — respect hard work, and they respect expertise.”
They just don’t think it’s worth any money.
Now working 10-3 with a 2 hour business lunch? That’s worth 25 million a year and a company car!
“When we hear someone is an engineer, we often show respect towards them for the same reason”
Nah, the reason I show respect for an engineer is because if I don’t, they try to run me over with their train.
Name checks out.
This is relatable. The clothes do matter. Going into a place in the clothing not stereotyped for that place can significantly alter the experience. Going to a “clean” store like a food store in garage clothes gets looks. So does going to a parts store in white-collar garb. Even shaving compared to unshaven can have a noticeable effect.
I go into the AutoZone near my house in my shirt and tie fresh off of work and they all appear to leave me alone. I grab my couple bottles of Castrol EDGE, go to the self checkout and leave and no one has said a word to me, I feel like I could just walk out without paying, that’s how invisible it seems. This could be the particular location in PHL, I’m not sure.
Maybe it depends where you live and just how far you are willing to go to look like someone to avoid.
At the risk of causing intra-office conflict, does Mercedes know you stole her coverall?
We wore these to engine teardown reviews when I worked at Detroit Diesel (currently owned by Daimler Truck but formerly owned by Daimler (owner of Mercedes-Benz) before Daimler was split up)
I dig the look. Tasteful yet brutish. Like a distinguished Michael Myers.
“Ahem, that’s Michael EDWARD Myers the third. I will now thrust my blade in your torso snootily.”