When I went to work for a rep in 1970, my apprenticeship consisted of reading product catalogs and any old books I could find, listening to old men tell stories, prowling any basement I could get into, and cringing as psychotic wholesalers from Brooklyn and the Bronx screamed at me over the phone because something got backordered. I got by, but just barely.

I wasn’t in any union — I mention that because most apprenticeships seem to come through the unions. The Wall Street Journal had an article about this recently and it caught my eye because it began on such a positive note. The writer quoted Robert Lerman, an economics professor at American University, who said, “Apprenticeships can offer a precise match between the skills employers want and the training workers receive.” Isn’t that the spirit of the whole thing? Let’s teach people the skills they need to meet the demands of the market while following a path toward a great career.