Well, the first time I asked about working for the FS in timber, I was told NO way. "Girls" can only work in the office or as a lookout. It took affirmative action and forcing them to hire us. I was hired in that year and told it would only be that year because there was no way we could do the work. Timber marking was much more pleasant than apple knocking. I guess we were able to do the work because I lasted 32 years and even ran a chainsaw on a thinning crew. Had the FS and others not been ordered to hire us, life would have been a bit boring, I fear.
Is giving veterans preference also DEI?
Guess that guy got a taste of what half the population had to put up with for eons. 'cept he was told he could try after 7 years instead of being told never.
Oh, and I'd try to help guys who worked for me get on as a "permanent" but they refused to move somewhere else for the foot in the door. They'd even mention that they could have had the job I was doing. I'd ask if they'd applied for it and there would be a hesitation and then a "well, no."
A couple years before I retired, a guy who was on that thinning crew came up and and said "You weren't supposed to last." He then apologized for how I was treated. I was handed a saw and safety gear, and told not to hurt myself and then left to cut. He said they had a betting pool going on how many hours I'd last. The only other woman who tried lasted a half hour.
And no, I'm not a faller. That's a scary job and makes me very nervous to do. But, one of the certifiers and the guy who cut the exploding snag said he thought women were easier to teach because we listen and do have a healthy realization of the dangers involved.
Or, maybe it was my 3.8 grade average and an AAA degree in Forestry? I could only afford cheap college with my orchard work money. Plus later on some Forest Engineering classes? Is that also DEI or some other acronym?
The more you complain the more scary acronyms we will make up.
