I was a 'confined space attendant' that worked with a construction crew. I was a 20 year old chick that they hired because I was cute.

The non-technical term for my job was 'hole watch'. The crew worked inside water towers at power plants, repairing the towers. My job was to stand at the top, watching through the hole. If someone was injured I had to sound a horn and that's it. I wasn't allowed to help or do anything else. I was paid $12 an hour, which was a lot back then.

No one was ever injured. It was fun working with a group of rednecks. They were a lot of fun. I turned 21 while working there and my boss took me off the site that day. He brought me to a liquor store, gave me cash and told me to go inside buy a bottle of Crown. The store was connected to an ice house. We bought set ups and got drunk and ate peanuts and played pool all day.

My first payday--all the guys on a the crew took me out for drinks. We cashed our checks at G's Ice House. I'm pretty sure they spent a large percentage of their checks that day. It was a blast. They knew of every redneck bar in southeast Houston.