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Letter to the Editor Jan. 29, 2010
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EDITOR: I am writing this letter to speak my piece. I have had cancer and had my voice box removed because the radiation and chemo did not kill the cancer. I now have to talk through a electronic artificial larynx, that I put to my throat. It doesn't work very well but I get by with it. It helps so I am not complaining.
The first big complaint I have is this: changing all the house numbers in Canton, Pa. And in the borough. I think it is going to cause a big problem for most of the people in the borough. For me, I am only one person, I have to get in touch with SSI and the other pensions from where I worked. Plus all the others; car registration, drivers license, etc.
You had a letter in your Towanda paper a week or two ago that renting in Towanda and surrounding areas are hard to come by because of the gas drilling. I believe one of the biggest problems is pure greed. Just to jack up rents to rent to gas company employees, to get rich. Here is one of the things that bothers me the worst - you have a lot of young people out there that don't even have a job. They have families and are on unemployment, relief and food stamps and try to live anyway they can. Most of all the factories here in Canton have closed and there is no work to be found here. We have a lot of people here in Canton who have to drive to Mansfield, Troy, Towanda, Sayre and further to get a job. They start out working for minimum wages or a little bit better. I don't know what these people are supposed to do with four or five kids to support and no job. Some of these people can't pay their rent or put food on the table and pay their bills. Some of these people that have been lucky enough to find a job, have to have some kind of a car that is road worthy to travel the distance. Some don't even have a car and can not establish credit to get one. How can they do this when you have to pay nearly $3 a gallon for gas as well? You really can't drive any distance today for minimum wage and pay rent for your family. I think it is a shame, when some of your home owners raised their rents from $350 to $700 and even up to $1,500. There is just a few that can do that! Only a few, the rich and gas well workers, that is what some homeowners think. I am getting older and wiser. I hope (going on 80).
Ollie Randall
Canton
33 posted comments
There may be more to the story, but on the surface, it appears to be a violation.
Your friend should check with the Dept of Labor. They would be able to answer that.
Altho, I am sure they would couch it in different language, or make the physical requirements such that most women wouldn't meet them. If someone came right out and stated that gender was the deciding factor, it could be a problem for the company.
Thank YOU!! Joe,
They call them Roughnecks for a reason. I am so glad you can appreciate them as much as I do. I also believe it takes a special woman to be married to a roughneck, it is not the easiet job. So thank you Sue again for seeing that. Not anyone can do these jobs. Woman and proud of it!,
I am so proud to be a woman and so grateful for the things I can experience in life because of it. I am sorry they treated your friend like that. Most women are not physically able to do those jobs. There are also no other women on the crews not that I am saying they are right for refusing to give her a chance, I think it has a lot to do with avoiding a lawsuit on their part because the crews are only men. Not that those men are pigs because most of them are very much gentelmen and wouldn't harm your friend. Some of the guys will make the job harder on her or some of the guys will try to make it easier and then someone could get hurt not to mention if anything was said on her part or his there could be a he said she said court battle. It's just not worth it to the companies and in that sense I have to understand where they come from as much as where you come from. There are a few women roughnecks out there but they have had to go through a lot to make it. The two women I know of one is a driller almost toolpusher and the other is a company man and she does call herself a company man. So if your friend wants to break out and she is physically able to preform the job the companies to talk to are Nabors Drilling, and H&P. Good luck!
My friend does not work in the gas drilling business, but his company goes in during "industrial emergencies." They are highly skilled and it takes these trained people to do the work. Like your husband he is gone weeks, or months, and is separated from his family. They make ok money, but by no means become independently wealthy. It takes a real toll. But he does what he has to do, and takes the best care he can of those back home.
We have to recognize that these folks just do their jobs. They are not here to cause harm to anyone. You have a tough role, staying back, and being a "single" mom so to speak. Most folks would not want, or be able, to do this work. My friend says the job really can be hard on marriages. Sounds like you and your husband are a good team. God Bless you and yours.
You made some great points. Thank you! These guys or anyone who takes a job on a rig will work whatever they are scheduled so I think there is some misconception there. If they are on a crew that works 14 days on and 14 days off such as what my husband does they learn in their working days and it takes more than one hitch to get it done. It takes a long time to learn everything out there and the safest way to do it. My husband is an 11 year veteran and still learns something new everyday, which is good because that keeps life interesting. They come up with new safety methods each day too. No, not everyone is capable of this kind of work. There are office jobs that will become available and if you can get trained in say oilfield accounting or something you can make some good money. Those are the jobs the require a degree. For regular office staff or roughnecks no education is requierd. My fear is they will get all the people up there trained and then they won't want the people from the south up there and we will be forced to move in order for my husband to keep his job. I love my home here in Oklahoma but if the Lord wills we will move but at this point things are working. We miss my husband here at home as much as he misses the kids and me. Thank you so much for being able to see both sides!
This is a small, rural area. We want change, as long as everything stays the same. The gas companies are posting notices of training programs all over the area. We have high unemployment, so you would think these classes would be filled to capacity. The goal is to hire locals. However, until that happens they send in their own people. These are individuals who are trained in the job.
It is not an unusual practice. A friend works for a company that sends teams all over the country. He says they get the biggest complaints from citizens in the west and mid-west, who see all the PA plates. They have high unemployment, but the work has to be done by trained workers. The are in and out in a few weeks, so there is no time to train the locals.
It takes a unique person to work at these jobs. The hours are long, they work for 2 or more weeks without time off. They must leave their families, and live in temporary housing. (Which can range from very nice, to barely habitable.)
No everyone is able, or capable, of this kind of employment.
So, we should accept that we are all more alike than different, and not use a license plate as a reason to judge someone.
However, having said that, gossip seems to be in very abundant supply here in Bradford County, and winter is long..
Mrs. GD has explained the gas workers situation well. We should thank her for her input.
The more you get to know people, the more you realize how much alike we all really are.
I just want you to know that not all the gas workers can afford those rents. This is part of the reason we still live in Oklahoma and my husband does the commuiting to PA to work. We have 2 kids and one on the way it really stinks that they are doing these things up there to you all. In reality we don't have deep pockets either. We are just barely keeping our heads above water because in the last 2 years we have lost over $30,000.00 in income. Before yes were doing very well but now not so great. I feel so bad for those up there that are having these problems and I don't understand anyone who is in the gas industry paying these $1500.00 rents I don't know anyone but toolpushers and above that can afford it. The only thing I can think of is families are staying together in these homes so they can combine their incomes to pay the bills. Thank you for your letter.
I taught my daughters, and sons, that love is different from physical gratification. We don't like to talk about the physical, sexual drives of our children, but they are there, and they are real. It is uncomfortable, but we need to get comfortable with it, so we can address it openly. We should not condemn those who try to teach our teens to use contraception, including abstinence, or to practice self-gratification. (They won't go blind and they won't get pregnant.) This should not be a taboo subject in our homes. But both sexes need to be fully accountable for their actions. It should not be the girl alone, or her family, that bears the burden of the child. Love does help, but so does real financial support. If the boy is too young, or unable to hold a job, his parents should be held responsible for child support until he is an adult. I see the young men walking away, bragging about being baby-daddies, even here in Bradford County. But the condemnation always falls on the girls.
I am not for refusing welfare to these families. Those who carry on about abortion, always come off more concerned about the pre-born, than the already here. Until, and unless, we are willing to support every child, than we can not have a say in when or if they are born.
If knowledge were enough, then everyone would do the right thing. We would have no smokers, no drinkers, no one would be obese, and no unmarried girl would have babies. How can we expect our teens to act more mature than we adults.
If they were giving out free lottery tickets, you can be guaranteed they would find that office!!