Women doing mens jobs.

[Brooksie]

Are there any women that are a part of this forum who do (or in the past have done them) what are traditionally known as men's jobs? I know from a previous post that Thora Zine use to work on a tug boat.

I used to drive an 18 wheeler with a 53 foot trailer and a refer unit attached and the truck had a sleeper in it (some truckers call them coffins!) I drove long hual for a company by the name of FFE out of Dallas Texas (many of you know this all by now). I have driven across the US so many times that I lost count now and I have been to every state in the United States except for five and I only drove for 6 months and then got out because it scared me and I could not stand it! I still do have my commercial drivers license. So, ladie's share your stories please.

Brooksie

 

[pretty faythe]

union electrician

I'm an electrician. Have been for the last 7 years. I have been doing the easier end of it lately which is setting up and down and up and down for conventions at the Las Vegas Convention Center and occasionally smaller convetion centers at a few of the resorts (which we refer to as "Show Girls"), unfortunately, show season is slowing and coming to an end, so I will have to go back to construction work for the summer or find something else to do so that I am not working in the 120 worksite temps.

 

[Brooksie]

We are kind of like modern day Rosie the Riviter's!

Brooksie

 

[pretty faythe]

I know that the local teamsters union has rosie on their womans t-shirts. I wish we did too Its for sisters in the trades. But about 95% of the women in the unions I know, no mater the trades have rosie stickers on lunch boxes, hard hats, etc with the "we can do it" logos. Hmmm, I think I need to get me some Rosie t-shirts now.....

 

[Elaina]

I used to do semi-pro drag racing until an accident tore my shoulder to bits and I had the choice of race and lose movement in my arm, or quit and move.

I worked pit crew for a good 2 years before I was allowed to drive. Not quite a "job" (I sort of got paid, but not a lot) like you ladies tho.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There aren't too many women who are film projectionists -- and there were even fewer when I first started to train in the field as a teenager in the '70s. I still don't know any others personally, but there's got to be some more out there....

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

What a great thread!

All of the jobs that I've ever had have been traditionally men's jobs, from the stint on a tug, cattle ranching, a bit of fishing in Alaska, to 15 years as Chef. I've never had a traditional "woman's" job, ever. What has always fascinated me about this, and I'm glad you brought it up, Brooksie, is how we maintain our femininity while still being taken seriously in these roles. The best story I can tell to illustrate this is when I was training for my life boat certificate. We would have random drills and would scramble to our positions on deck for a lifeboat launch. There were 6 oars, 4 weighed 90lbs, 2 weighed 60 lbs. The guys were always pushing one of the light oars in my direction (was quite a show lol). While I appreciated that their intentions were chivalrous, I had to explain to them that they weren't really doing me a favor. If the Coast Guard came out and I was stuck with a heavy oar I wouldn't have been prepared for it and might fail the test, the REAL favor was giving me a heavy oar every time. They respected me for that and I know they could see me as a woman and as a peer.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I was a forklift driver for 5 years. I can drive them all -- sit-down, stand-up, cherry pickers, and aisle cars!

I hate to sound stereotypical, but this is the truth -- I was the only feminine-looking female forklift driver in all of the places I've ever worked and the guys always LOVED me!

 

[Brooksie]

While going through truck driving school in Texas I was the only really femanine looking female also and all of the guys going through the school LOVED me to. I also helped my ex-beau do some cattle ranching (this was after my truck driving stint) during the time I lived in Texas for a while - his parents owned about a 1000 acres of ranch land and had over 60 head of cattle but he took care of everybody's cattle that lived in the little town of Buttler, he took care of some donkeys and horses to but mostly cattle.

Great stories ladie's, thanks to everyone who has participated so far. I don't feel like the lone ranger anymore.

Brooksie

 

[Paisley]

I used to be an engineer. I went into secretarial work to make more money. When you average in all the time you spend between jobs as an engineer, and the fact that you don't get time-and-a-half for overtime, the money isn't that great--at least, it wasn't for me.

 

[birddog]

I'm a guy, but have trained women to work as aircraft mechanics in the Navy and in civilian life as well. Overall the experience was positive. My speciality was electrics, and I found most women were beter suited to electrical work than men. Many men don't have the patience it requires to spend hours troubleshooting a faulty airplane electrical circuit. Also, women being mostly physically smaller than men,(at least those I worked with) were able to gain easier access to places in the airplane were the parts was installed first & the plane built around it. The downside was having to lift heavy parts like engine generators, starters, inverters etc. Professionally, I always had more problems with the men than the ladies, plus, they were most always proud of their jobs & work, whereas men just blew it off as a job.

Birddog

 

[Miss Crisplock]

I worked on the waterfront as a marine clerk and a longshoreman. I got to be really picky about my rain gear, and I can drive a forklift.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

just wanted to say that i think y'all are so cool! i was always thinking it would be cool to learn a trade. i wanna drive a forklift! i think i will have to settle for taking a basic carpentry or welding course as soon as i have the time/money, though

 

[pretty faythe]

just wanted to say that i think y'all are so cool! i was always thinking it would be cool to learn a trade. i wanna drive a forklift! i think i will have to settle for taking a basic carpentry or welding course as soon as i have the time/money, though

If really interested in taking a welding course you should check your community college, see if they have what our community college calls Certificate of Achievement. It takes less time than an associates and far less classess. Just the welding classes and I think English, it might differ state to state. They might do carpentry too. [huh]

I need to renew my fork lift license and have been contemplating taking the welding through my union now that my migranes are mainly under control. Tried taking it as an apprentice, but it was too loud and the smells were a trigger for the migranes for me.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

If really interested in taking a welding course you should check your community college, see if they have what our community college calls Certificate of Achievement. It takes less time than an associates and far less classess. Just the welding classes and I think English, it might differ state to state. They might do carpentry too. [huh]

I need to renew my fork lift license and have been contemplating taking the welding through my union now that my migranes are mainly under control. Tried taking it as an apprentice, but it was too loud and the smells were a trigger for the migranes for me.

that's probably where i would take it, faythe, although i probably wouldn't do a whole certificate! i mainly just want to weld cool sculptures out of used bike parts for my backyard and stuff

community colleges are great, aren't they! i also have my eye on a couple of natural building course being offered at my local cc, as well.

 

[Brooksie]

I was reading an article in the Oregonian about a month ago about how there is a shortage of welders and a lot of company's are hiring women and giving them on the job training. I hear the pay is awsome. I even considered it but I don't think I could because of my tendonitis.

Another job that I have done that has been primarily thought of as a man's job is legal investigation's. In 2000 I went back to school and learned yet another trade - investigations. I got a license and worked as a private investigator for two years. Brooksie P.I.

Brooksie

 

[Elaina]

The only problem with welding is the sparks and teeny tiny burns through clothing and skin that make it hard for me to weld. (For the record, no I'm not trained, one of my ex-husband's is a welder, and I learned to do very minimal welding from him for all of about half an hour. I still have scars on my chest from it.)

 

[ShooShooBaby]

I was reading an article in the Oregonian about a month ago about how there is a shortage of welders and a lot of company's are hiring women and giving them on the job training. I hear the pay is awsome. I even considered it but I don't think I could because of my tendonitis.

Another job that I have done that has been primarily thought of as a man's job is legal investigation's. In 2000 I went back to school and learned yet another trade - investigations. I got a license and worked as a private investigator for two years. Brooksie P.I.

Brooksie

i think i heard that too. like you, i have problems with my wrist, which rules out doing a lot of stuff on a professional level.

being a PI sounds cool as well! maybe if i hate teaching i'll go back to school again for that!

 

[Tango Yankee]

My wife is a retired Technical Sergeant. She did 20 years in the US Air Force in Communications/Computer Operations, same career field as mine. Don't know if that counts as a woman doing a man's job, though. But... when she joined in the early '70s the women were still officially WAFs (Women in the Air Force)

Brooksie, I got my commercial drivers license when I retired from the USAF in 2005. I drove for Roehl for about 6 months; I didn't like it at all and quit when my wife found work. While I was still driving with a trainer (third week on the road) a minivan with four generations of women (great-great grandmother, grandmother, who was driving; pregnant mother, two little girls) lost control while northbound and crossed the median into the southbound lanes of the interstate I was on. I saw her enter the median and was on the brakes--state trooper said my trailer tires left skid marks for 420 feet. Fortunately, I was carrying a light load and had scrubbed off most of our speed before I hit her almost head-on. They came away with minor injuries. Could have been a very bad Christmas for that family... when the emergency crews got the call they were expecting to be using body bags. That wasn't why I quit, though. I just didn't like it!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Brooksie]

Hey Tom, I just did not like truck driving at all either it made me nervous, plus I had horrible visions of having something like what happened to you happening to me. I was in constant fear that I might kill someone someday.

Brooksie