How incredibly rude.
My sister has worked at the same restaurant since she was 14 (she’s now 30) and basically runs the place. She makes more money in a night than I make in 2 weeks- and I have several more advanced degrees than her. She is incredibly intelligent and continues to work there because it is very good money and her boss treats her like a daughter. Plus she gets to set her own schedule and take vacations and travel at will. If you ask me, she was pretty damn smart to continue there.
It makes me sad that there are still so many people out there who judge an individual’s intelligence based on his or her area of work. Did it ever occur to you, @marygj that this was the path that was open to them? Many can’t afford to go to college and due to a variety of systemic forces, this is the path that they’ve had to choose to support themselves and/or their families.