manual labor

Mike Rowe's TV show Dirty Jobs puts him hip-deep into the roughest, toughest and filthiest jobs in America. But for the past two years, he's had a second occupation -- running MikeRoweWorks, a website and foundation that advocates for old-fashioned, honest blue-collar work.

A friend who teaches classes on food preservation and "house holding" believes in the power of the plumber. Even before Joe became famous for the work, she was arguing that this economy called for our youth to learn trades, not technology. She has been urging her son to skip college and do...