With a bachelor’s in chemistry, a Ph.D. in history (with a concentration in the history of science) and publications in hand, I applied for the job. The director never interviewed me. He hired a 22-year-old communications major but promised me work as a landscaper and all-purpose cipher as long as I wanted it. | He reinforced an important lesson I learned long ago: Class trumps everything else. I was not part of the middle class and never would be. — Chris Cumo
—Blue Collar Ph.D. (Chronicle)