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Comment by OJFord | Hacker News Reader

'Truck driver' here serving only to put him down, because the feat wouldn't be expected of such a person?

Seems to me like papers' infamous (at least in the UK) references to victims' or alleged perpatrators' house prices, to instruct our sympathy, when it's not otherwise at all relevant.

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“Normal person with normal job”

This isn’t someone working as a full time artist, this isn’t someone living off a trust fund, this isn’t someone selling their creating for millions for the money laundering. This is just a “man in his shed” with a blue collar job doing something awesome.

It says “anyone can doing something awesome”, you don’t need a fancy upbringing or million dollar backing.

Artist who spent 20 years making a scale model of every building in NYC, makes a living as a truck driver.

Why to "put him down"? You seem to be making a tacit assumption that the work driving a truck is something one should look down upon.

Is it lifting him up? It's certainly irrelevant, is my point. My assumption then is that it's because it's supposed to be surprising. 'Hobbyist spends 20y on their hobby' isn't that surprising, even if the hobby is interesting; instead of letting the story stand on that interest, they're attempting to add 'shock and awe'.

Putting him down is your judgement revealing your own biases. Personally, I saw it as a put up. He's not some privileged prick, he's a normal guy!

'Artist' would be more fitting.

Depending, of course, on how many artworks he’s sold.

Artworks sold by artist is a very poor way to define who is and is not an artist. Look at Vincent van Gogh who only sold one painting.

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