When I Worked In A Man's World

Tonight I was watching a show called "One Of The Toughest Jobs."

As I sat watching this show about repairing a passenger jet, I thought, right, you think that is a tough job? There was this guy showing how it was being done. He seemed to be feeling like he was sort of a super guy.

The one thing that most people do not know about me is that I once was an aircraft mechanic. I worked in a place that had ten hanger filled with aircraft, that was owned by the military. We worked on F-4's, KC-135's and 130 Cargo planes. Some of these planes were Air Force and the others were Navy.

I worked on two of those projects. The first job was on the engine crew working on the F-4's. That was a tough job because of the size of the plane. Try putting a part on in a place you can not even see. One had to feel their way around in a lot of cases or use a flexible mirror with a flashlight. One always had a partner. One held the flashlight while the other did the work.

No, I was not always the flashlight holder. Since some men resent women working in an environment that they consider their domain, they resent women working along side of them making the same amount of money. So, I felt that I had to prove myself. I worked hard very seldom asking for help.

Since we worked in pairs on that project, I did have help on occasion. It was necessary. Sometimes, I had the same partner and at others, someone else in the crew would work with me. The men in my crew came to admire me because they saw that I pulled my own weight. That still didn't keep me from feeling out of place at times.

My point is that the show was about the toughest job. They were not doing anything that I didn't do when I was an aircraft mechanic. Yes, it is a tough job. Did I mind? No. It was a good job no matter how tough it was. I was able to afford to take care of my two sons without worry. We had excellent benefits which kept me from the worry of not having insurance for me or my sons.

I will tell yáll more about my adventures in that job field at another time. Right now, I do not even want to think about the way that women were treated. I had my fair share of being jerked around because I was a woman. I managed to deal with it up to a point. That part will come later.

Tags: 130, aircraft, bluecollar, f-4, kc135, mechanic, workers

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Comment by SassySweetBren on February 26, 2009 at 6:28pm: Hey Amadeus, ask any mechanic about the tech books that they have to use for looking up parts on a plane. That is enough to make most people want to run screaming out of the hanger. :D

I have always been one of those women who just thought I could do anything. So far, I have been right. Not saying that I am a tough bad ass woman because I am not. There are many things that I would not even attempt such as Iron Working. hee hee....now, that takes a man in my opinion.

However, women could do more in life if they only wanted to. Like a few weeks ago when my sewer line was stopped up, a female neighbor friend said, "no way that I would do that.

On well, maybe not but what if she didn't have the bucks or anyone else to do it. I wonder if she would attempt it then?

Comment by Spiderich on January 18, 2009 at 1:54pm: What I applaud more than all else is your determination and attitude. You took what was dished out and did what you had to do without complaint. That is not easy!!!! Kudos! Heck the placing parts in places you couldn't see was the easy part. I have a college age daughter and have raised her a bit tough and to hold her own. I hope I have given her the strength and a bit of an attitude to cope in this still" A man's world". I am glad to see there are women like you for her to emulate. Thank you!

Comment by Carnell James on January 16, 2009 at 12:40pm: Hey Sassy ... Sounds Like you had your handsfull .. We cannot Change our Past we can not Change the fact that people act in a certain way . Wecan not change the inevitable . The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have , and that is our attitude . " Charles Swindoll Have a great day ..Carnell J

Comment by SassySweetBren on January 16, 2009 at 12:08pm: I plan to add more blogs about this part of my life. It never seems that interesting to me any longer but I started thinking that others might find it fascinating.

You are right Sol. We do seem to have things in common.

I wasn't treated badly by all of my superiors but there was one that took the cake. I found out later that I was the first woman to ever work for him. He tried to make my life miserable but I coped. It must have made him crazy. I hope so. he hee

Comment by Andrew on January 16, 2009 at 8:45am: It bugs the heck out of me that women are treated that way too! I am a guy, and I think it is totally stupid, and amizingly unfiar that women are treated like that. I just think what I would feel, and how I would react if I were in the same position, and it is not pretty.

;-) Andrew

Comment by Urban Underbrink on January 16, 2009 at 5:10am: I can relate to the difficulty of Jet Engine Mechanic work, and can only imagine what it was like for you. There were no Women working on the Bombers while I was in the Air Force, although some were stationed at the Base.

Comment by Geoffrey Bernardo van Wyk on January 16, 2009 at 1:35am: Yip, sure sounds like a tough job. Putting parts where you can't see. That must be very frustarting and it must take a lot time to get used to it.

Comment by Sol McNally Aka : Dmitri Girl on January 16, 2009 at 12:29am: Bren I see this as just another thing that you and I have in common. Not airplane part. But the mechanical field. :P Oh yeah and the fact that people are shocked that you or I could do such a thing being a "woman" always irritated the poop out of me.