People don't stop talking about the trades shortage, but after 3 years I finally understood why this is happening

All my life I've been hearing about how there's a terrible shortage of people entering the trades, usually followed by a comment about how my generation is "too soft" and not cut out for hard labor. Anyway, I've been in my electrical apprenticeship for 3 years now, and I've discovered that the problem isn't the work itself... The problem is the people running the show.

I've worked with 6 different journeymen so far, and it's the same script every time. They put me with someone who's been in the industry since before I was born, and he expects me to be at his level of experience from day one. Instead of showing me the ropes, he just keeps belittling me because I'm not a "mind reader."

It's always the same cycle: I make a small mistake, and he goes on a 15-minute rant about how "real men" used to work back in the day, and then it turns into verbal abuse. Seriously, people have told me "if you mess this up again I'll slam you against the wall," or "I wish we were still allowed to discipline apprentices with a pipe wrench."

Honestly, after 3 years, I'm just drained by this "tough guy" atmosphere. I feel like I'm not even learning the trade because I'm constantly busy trying not to be the target of an old man's mid-life crisis. Is this just happening to me or is the whole industry like this?