Dee Dickson (DD)

(DD): The guy that was interviewing told me I was too little, that I wouldn’t get along with the guys, that they would make life hard for me. He didn’t think I needed to be doing it. And my dad said, “Well, you know, my Uncle Alf is superintendent out there. I can get you on like that.” Finally, at the end of that week I let my dad take me to see Uncle Alf. So, I went the next Monday and the guy said, “Look, I got the word from the top. I don’t like it, but you’re hired.”

Then I went to the ship. And none of the guys would work with me. They said, “These are men’s jobs. You’re taking jobs away from men who have families.” I said, “I have a family and no man and I need money.” It took about two weeks before I started proving myself. And the guys were doing better with it. They would work with me. I had several guys who told me, “You need to slow down — you’re making us look bad.” (Laughs)

You know? And I’m like, “I’m here to work!”

We had to go to school two nights a week. And I was the first apprentice who had ever become supervisor before graduation. And they were mad because I got a raise. And I got a position they thought was theirs. It’s just… I had a knack for getting stuff done on time and getting it done right. Now, I had to do some things a little differently than they did, you know? I couldn’t lift an 80 pound transformer. But I found a way to do the same things they were doing. And it kind of made me better than I probably would have been if I was a guy.