Skidding in Broadside

In 1961, I was 9 years old and lived in what was considered a lower middle class to poor neighborhood. It’s a funny thing but when you are nine, you really don’t know that you are poor. It is usually much later on and only after people who aren’t poor let you know, that you come to that realization. Most of the houses in my neighborhood were built in the later 1890’s to maybe 1930 so they were all 60 to 70 year old houses. These were smaller and mostly two bedroom houses with white board siding, Victorian columned front porches and brick chimneys spewing out coal smoke all during the winter months. The newer houses had an artificial brick look brown tar paper siding which had a sandpaper feel to it like roofing shingles. There were no sidewalks in the neighborhood and the street was paved with oil and chip. If a house had a garage, it was a separate building without a paved driveway and was most certainly designed for a single Model T or A Ford. There were many kids in the neighborhood but also lots of elderly people and little old ladies, that I now know were somebody's widowed grandmother. My first paying job was in this neighborhood.

All of the houses on my block heated with coal because we lived in a coal mining area. The older homes had a single large coal-burning stove located in a parlor near the center of the house. These stoves used lump coal, which was pieces bigger than 4” and sometimes larger than 12”, which had to be busted up. The coal bins were often outside next to the garage. If the house had a basement, the coal bin could be down there. Houses with basements might have a coal stoker system, which fed ?” to ?” pieces of coal automatically into the furnace. I was most familiar with the houses that used lump coal as a stoker system was higher tech for the time and my neighborhood was definitely not high tech.  Each day after school and on Saturday and Sunday, I would tend to the coal needs of several of the homes. I would carry out the full scuttles of coal ashes, spread the ashes on the driveway, and return with full scuttles of coal to place next to the stove.  For this work I was paid 50 cents a week and received an occasional fresh baked chocolate chip cookie as a bonus.

Fifty cents a week may not seem like much now, but you have to put yourself in the perspective of a nine year old in 1961. Our town had a Pepsi bottling plant, the town nearby had a Coke bottling plant. Even though Coke raised the price per bottle from a nickel in 1959, in our area because of the competition, you could still get a small Pepsi or Coke for five cents. A candy bar was also five cents, which meant I could treat myself several days per week. On Saturday morning, I could go to the Orpheum theater matinee and see a double feature, get a soda and popcorn and have money left over. That’s pretty huge for a nine year old, and, I earned it myself. I didn’t have to ask my parents for anything that they wouldn’t have had anyway. I could ride my bicycle or walk to the theater. I was my own man. Today it is almost 59 years later, and I am preparing to retire and I am still my own man.  

When I look back on some of the things I have done, I fully realize what an amazing adventure I have been on. From filling coal scuttles I went to a paper route. From the paper route, I was a window washer and box boy at a clothing store. From the clothing store, I went to delivering prescriptions for the local drug store. On the side, I painted people’s houses, dug garden plots and mowed yards. I worked at a hamburger stand for a while. After trying to go to college after high school, I decided this wasn’t enough excitement for me so in 1971 I enlisted in the Navy. I volunteered for submarine duty and traveled all over the world. When I was discharged from the Navy, I enrolled in the local college and worked many jobs while pursuing a degree. I was a construction worker, a machinery repairman in a textile factory, and managed a liquor store. Before I graduated, I started working for a mining company as an engineer. I worked in coal mining from 1978 to 1998. I spent 20+ years with three major companies and worked in Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Utah and Colorado. I have worked in underground coal mines and surface coal mines on construction projects, designing mine layouts, ventilation systems, pumping systems and all of the machinery as well as being an underground foreman and mine manager. After coal mining I decided to give manufacturing a try and that has lasted over 20 years. I have worked as an engineer in the cement industry, gypsum industry and calcium carbonate industry.

After coal mining in the USA, all of the manufacturing companies I worked for have been international companies except 3 years with a domestic gypsum company. As such I have had the opportunity to travel the world and to work with and become friends with people from all over. In addition to helping build things all over the United States, I have helped build projects in Canada, Mexico and South America. I know many engineers and have friends from all of these places and Europe. When I visited all of these nations, I feel fortunate that I got to see areas outside of the well-known tourist areas. I normally visited industrial sites, power plants or factories. I literally got to see how these countries were made.  Here you get a feel for the real people and the real culture. I would immerse myself in the local culture. I ate the food and drink; I would go to the markets and shops. I would try to live as my hosts lived. To me, this is how you visit a country.

My advice to younger professionals from an old guy? Enjoy your work. If you don’t like it then find what you do like. Enjoy the relationships and interactions you build with people. Don’t be afraid of changes, look on change as opportunity. Travel, take the tough assignments, eat at the local restaurants, drink the local wine. Try new things. You will be amazed and surprised at how similar each culture is in some ways. Most people are just trying to make an honest living and support their families. Enjoy the differences in culture. I am very proud to be from the USA, but how boring would it be if we were all alike? I have a true passion for learning about people.  Embrace the music, food, and festivals. Dance to the mariachi. Work hard and don’t accept mediocrity. Be honest and forthright and people will respect you. 

I don’t have any regrets worth mentioning. I honestly feel that I have been blessed in my personal life and my work life. My life has truly been an adventure. As my professional life is quickly coming to a close (75 Days), I am only briefly looking back on places and events with fond memories. To paraphrase an old saying, I do not intend to pass away gently or mildly and fully intend to skid in broadside, wore out and yelling “what a ride”. In retirement, I still have plenty of plans and dreams and things to build. Never stop dreaming.