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Why Did You Become a Bridgetender?
One of my faithful readers/new friends asked me that question recently, and I realized that I’ve touched on the subject in this blog in the past, but never really addressed it in full. So here goes. I’ve been working and/or studying since I was 10 years old, and I’ve had 23 different jobs. Some of…
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Gotta Be This or That
My ex-boyfriend used to quote that song whenever he thought I was being indecisive. While I did enjoy the Ella Fitzgerald version that would then run through my head, I still found it to be an annoying habit. The man always did lack subtlety. He saw the world as nothing but black and white. I…
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Rife with Possibilities
Some mornings I’ll come to work at my drawbridge and it’s quiet. No traffic on the road, no boats in the water. The joggers keep their own counsel. The only sound you hear is the occasional seagull shouting, “Keow! Keow! Keow!” This is a rare treat. At times like this I wonder if I really…
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Complacency
When someone gets hurt on a drawbridge and it’s determined that it’s the bridgetender’s fault, you’d think it would be a newbie who was at the controls. But no. It’s almost always an operator who has been on the job for many years. If anything, someone new to the job tends to be hypervigilant. When…
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Give Bridgetenders Some Credit
Okay, I admit it. I’ve been a bridgetender for 15 years, so I’m probably entirely too biased to write a blog entry of this type. But if I don’t, no one will. This job is full of unsung heroes. Simply Google “Drawbridge” and “Death” and you’ll see just how dangerous these structures can be. Think…
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Loving My Thankless Job
A friend of mine recently pointed out that I have a thankless job. As a bridgetender, I’m always shocked to discover the vast number of people who don’t even know I exist. People tend to assume that all drawbridges are automated. They don’t realize how lucky they are that most aren’t. People can easily die…
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RIP Sisters Creek Bridge
A friend of mine just sent me this picture, and it made me really sad. To me, this feels like a death. It is the last gasp of a drawbridge that is about to be torn down because it has been replaced by a much higher fixed span. I used to work on the Sisters…
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The Drawbridge Diet
If you work on a bridge, by all rights you should be as skinny as a rail. Once you’re on the job, it’s not like you can run down the street on a whim for doughnuts. As a matter of fact, if you abandon a drawbridge, I’ve been told, the Coast Guard can fine you…
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Tears for Turkey
The thing about having been to 22 countries is that it has caused me to have a more global perspective. I seem to take international news much more personally than a lot of people I know. In a time when there is so much violence in the world, this can be a bit overwhelming. While…