28 March 2011

Deadliest Jobs

We're watching reruns of The Deadliest Catch tonight.  Kevin's uncle was a crab fisherman so he grew up hearing stories of the high seas.   I had friends who fished as well but summer season fishing.  A classmate died the summer we graduated on a fishing boat.  So we have a good frame of reference when it comes to this industry.  Still we are mesmerized and horrified watching this guys do their jobs.

They recognize  that their jobs are dangerous yet they think it is no more less normal than any of the jobs we do.   That's how they think about it: it's just the job they do.

That's how I thought when we did fireworks.  It was just a job. The risks were measured and considered but not dwelled upon.  If you worried about it, then the job isn't for you.  The same with Kevin's racing, he simply can't worry about the chance of crashing.  He can be prepared for it in every way possible but he can't think about it.

Kevin is a pit boss for a multi-million dollar excavation company.  He runs all the heavy equipment and is responsible for all the safety stuff which includes quarterly state safety checks.  I am pleased to say that the inspectors are picky and specific.  I know it makes Kevin insane but I feel better about it every time they have an inspection.

With that, there are certain jobs that he does that what we call "not-wife-friendly".  They are the jobs that I just don't want to hear about, see pictures of, or even know that he is working on. Sometimes he'll tell me after the fact if it was an interesting job but mostly he doesn't. Mostly I just picture him pushing dirt around and running equipment.  I don't think about where or how or that the tires on the equipment he runs are taller than he and weigh 10,000 lbs. (just the tires).   

The other side of the coin is the reason I keep my phone with me during the workday.  Odds are that I might get a call one day that is not going to be happy.  If I hater-button him or miss a call, trust me I hear about it.  Once he called after missed calls and said "I'm sorry Mrs. Firegirl but your husband was in a fiery accident involving a rabbit and an excavator."  He's a funny guy but it was gentle reminder to keep the phone with me.

Also, he is to never call from the company office phone.  Every single time he has or one of the girls from the office has called (we're friends) and I see Kevin's Work on the display my stomach travels to my toes to my throat.

My point is that Kevin's job is normal to him, just like the fishermen.  They can only prepare for trouble, they can't anticipate it..  It can't be dwelled on.  We both agree that worrying about it, focusing upon it can only increase the odds of something happening.  Plan for the worst, hope for the best.  Assume that it's going to be fine.

1 comment:

creative kerfuffle said...

i like that show too, deadliest catch, but haven't watched in awhile. these jobs make me nervous...thinking you might get a call like that some day. the hubs is in the convenience store biz...and, while he's no longer running an actual store, when he did, i didn't like it. the hours, the robberies, the calls in the middle of the night.