Oil Field Class

Pre and often Misconceptions

OK. My writing has focused on my new job quite a bit. It’s only natural I guess to reflect a lot on my new career, especially since it’s so different from anything I’ve done before. Today’s topic: Pre- or Mis- Conceptions.

Before I went to work on an oil rig, I had an idea that oilfield workers were, on the whole, uneducated and of average or less intelligence. I think this is a misconception that many of us have. The first rig I was on was an eye opener. Only two of my six man crew didn’t have a college degree (Bachelor’s minimum). Those two that didn’t have a degree were highly intelligent and still wanted to go to college. I know that I was judged by both the crews I have worked with as too old to be starting off as a hand in the oilfields. I’ve evidently changed their minds on that account.

My driller is a good man, but he is from a small town in Louisiana, and shocked by anything he sees as weird or different than him. He accepts me, but he might think differently if he knew that I was a Buddhist and not a Christian like he is. Less than a year ago I removed my large gauge earrings and my tongue ring. He is forever talking about “those weirdos with their pierced noses and tongues.” I know that it would have made a difference in his perception of me if I was still wearing them when we met.

One funny instance I can recall happened many years ago. I was on my first date with a girl who I would end up dating for years. I was driving down the main street of Victoria, when in a frightened voice she said, “Don’t look now, but there is a car full of skinheads next to us and they are staring!” I looked to my left and waved. The station wagon next to me was full of my skinhead friends (S.H.A.R.P.s: Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice). During that period Tim was especially menacing with his spiked leather collar and jacket. I began laughing and explained who they were. For some reason she never wanted to hang out with my friends.

There are so many pre and misconceptions we all hold. Read National Geographic and see if your ideas about other cultures are the same. We all want basically the same things. We all want to be happy or free from unhappiness. If you think about it this covers most things that people want. Sometimes what we do to try and make ourselves happy and stop the pain ends up being even more destructive to us and others, due to a warped vision of the world, but the goal is the same. When other cultures or races or even just different families are doing something I don’t approve of, I’m going to try my best to see them for what they are, not what I think they should be.