Every long-term relationship I’ve had has been with someone who does some version of construction for a living. When they come home, cut up and covered in grime, after a long day of putting shingles on roofs or re-plumbing the crawl space under a house or rewiring a hot attic, it’s obvious they’re exhausted. Tradesmen earn their pay, no doubt about it.
In contrast, I have, for the most part, had jobs that don’t require nearly the same amount of sweat. Usually I’m out of the wind and weather, sitting in an office chair. Yes, I do get my hands dirty now and then, but it’s not a day in, day out, body-destroying routine.
The frustrating thing about this dynamic is that when I come home tired, as a general rule I’m not taken seriously at all. “How can you be tired?” man-of-the-moment will say. “You don’t do anything!”
Unless you’ve experienced it yourself, it’s hard to explain how brain work, the stress of deadlines, and just being “on” all day, especially when you’re an introvert like me, can suck the life out of you. Granted, I’m not toting that barge or lifting that bale as a general rule, but what I do is still work.
Maybe you can’t relate to this, but you might want to at least consider how condescending you sound if you totally discount someone’s career. Every job has its dirty aspects. They just might not be visible to the naked eye.
The View from a Drawbridge 