Foots

I met many people while offshore, most of them were characters.  One of my favorite people was Big Foots, no that's not his real name but that's what we all called him.  He was a 6'3" black man who had been going offshore since he was 16, I met him when he was around the age of 50.  He was still at it and was lead rigger, they always wanted to make him a Superintendent but he didn't want to do the paper work and wasn't great with computers.  He always worked the midnight to noon shift and always called his wife before his shift every night.  Some of his favorite phrases were, "Shut your mouf (mouth with a thick Louisiana accent)", "HBO, Help a Brother Out!", and  "I'll rip them fake teeth straight out yo head.".  These things were always yelled across the deck of the boat at the top of his lungs but the day that he cracked me up the most was when he said "Man I really enjoyed those Shishkanobs for dinner tonight".  I almost cried.  The truth of the matter though was that while Foots was on deck, I could sleep because he could handle everything on his own and get a lot done.

Why?

I have recently left my job that took me offshore.  I have started a desk job and though I enjoy it, the 5 years I spent working onshore and offshore taught me a lot and I am beginning to miss it some.  Do I want to go back to it, probably not but I thought chronicling the things I did offshore and by giving you a peek into the madness that occurred, even in the office, I wouldn't miss it so much.  The main thing I would like to point out is that I was a female in the offshore oil field world.  Something I was and am still proud of.