Saturday, May 31, 2008

Damn

The Hoover Dam tamed the Colorado River and 96 workers died during its construction. This is quite a sore spot for me due to the years I spent working for builders that used and abused me to line their pockets with cash. During the height of the depression worker were lining up to work on this engineering marvel and if a man didn’t like the dangerous conditions there was 100 to take his place. There were attempts to make it safe for workers, hard hats were required for the first time and the man camp in Boulder City alcohol, gambling and prostitution were not permitted but the work load was crushing and with living conditions poor and not enough time off, the workers tried to force improvements but their attempts were quelled by strike breakers with guns and clubs that six contracting companies hired.
I've experienced nothing close to that but I know just the type of assholes…The dam was finished 2 years ahead of time and that just meant the contractors made that much more money and the engineer got a big old pat on the back from the President and the workers got sent on their way. Yep, that kinda pisses me off.