Plumbers make hand over fist if they're good at their job. Many people get turned away by the "you deal with shit pipes" stigma so whoever sticks around are in huge demand.
It's not so much what the pipes hold that turns me off, it's where the pipes are. Crawl spaces and attics and other shit holes. You get paid so well because it's not a very glamorous job.
I have Arachnophobia. Despite working on it in small ways throughout my life, I still get an extremely strong flight response when one is too close. I enjoy working with my hands and am decent at it. Sometimes I feel just a little cursed. A wee eight-legged dude that wants absolutely nothing to do with me and I'm the one having a freakout.
I knew a plumber growing up. Dude walked around with a wad of cash that would make a gangster blush. Used to run into him on jobs all the time. By the time I knew him he was one of those elder assholes, would spend 5min saving the day with wizardry and old man strength, and the rest of the day smoking weed and being hilarious. R I P Lionel, you were a good one
I imagined how some gang hired plumber to keep shit together, then they see bill, learn that this is how everyone bills, and become plumbers gang. Sometimes it's called plumbers coop.
OP has the right goals, but having a kid doesn't automatically change your life. Took the dude 9 months to start looking for a job? Yeah. Something tells me nothing is going to change.
Lots of terrible mothers that thought just having a kid would change their life.
It does change your life. We're biologically wired to provide for our offspring. For fathers, the biological changes start only when the child is born and you see it and interact with it, so this "getting your shit together" starting at birth is actually perfectly normal and might certainly work.
The implication is the guy is only doing the right thing because he has to. Their point is that they didnt do anything different than before, they still aren't taking any control or responsibility in their life.