>So it’s not that white collar workers (or even blue collar workers) try to find meaning in their work. Some do, some don’t. It’s that they SHOULD.
Since blue collar work tends towards more tangible outcomes I would think finding meaning in blue collar work is easier, but that's speaking as an office drone. Maybe the grass is greener, but it seems to me that receiving a broken motorcycle and it leaving your shop running is easier to find meaning in than delivering TPS reports. On the other hand, shoving out burger number fifty thousand doesn't seem steeped in inherent meaning either.
And that illustrates my point; if you end up in a situation where you have a job turning a crank, be it white or blue collar, and it's hard to get out of that situation because it's your only income, then pursuing something more meaningful is very difficult. Maybe you can convince yourself that because your work has economic meaning you are fulfilling someone's needs somewhere, but when you come home too exhausted to enjoy your own time you can quickly spiral into nihilism.
The mental trick I have always used, and the rationale I have employed to make myself feel better, is that a good job matters more than a bad job. This is not always true. But it is often true. And in my life it has been true often enough that people have noticed, commented on it, and I have been explicitly promoted because of it.
I hear the comment about coming home too tired to enjoy one’s own time. That happens to me even now, in a fulfilling job. I often feel too tired to even play a video game (it doesn’t help that many games feel like work). The only solution I’ve found to that particular problem is to find a different job. Fortunately, in my current job, it does not happen often enough that I am willing to give it up just yet. And I still see a path (and progress) toward my goals in my current job.
You seem to be very lucky to have found your niche.
In most companies people neither notice, nor comment and certainly don't promote you for doing a good job.
Most corporate software engineering job are about how good you are playing the corporate social games. Being exceptionally good at programming does not matter. It can even be a hindrance as it means you get more work and are less likely to be promoted as you are "irreplaceable" and your coworkers and hire-ups might start to hate you because they feel threatened by you.
Since blue collar work tends towards more tangible outcomes I would think finding meaning in blue collar work is easier, but that's speaking as an office drone. Maybe the grass is greener, but it seems to me that receiving a broken motorcycle and it leaving your shop running is easier to find meaning in than delivering TPS reports. On the other hand, shoving out burger number fifty thousand doesn't seem steeped in inherent meaning either.
And that illustrates my point; if you end up in a situation where you have a job turning a crank, be it white or blue collar, and it's hard to get out of that situation because it's your only income, then pursuing something more meaningful is very difficult. Maybe you can convince yourself that because your work has economic meaning you are fulfilling someone's needs somewhere, but when you come home too exhausted to enjoy your own time you can quickly spiral into nihilism.