Weldin Lady

The sparkle of fire hits the air around me like fireworks on the Fourth of July. I feel like I am on fire in this scorching heat of working long hours. The labor tears at my skin and wears me down in a welding environment. Welding is the part of me I love most. As I stand there working, I am wearing protective gear: a welding hood, leather gloves, safety glasses, and a good work shirt to protect myself. The gear protects me from the flying sparks and the slag. Many people say welding is messy, and that is why men do it. What these people don’t know is that women welded in the shipyards during World War II. Yes, there is a dirty and dangerous downside of welding, but that does not matter to me. My idea of the upside just might be the downside to others. I know a woman can weld as well as a man any day or millennium. Like my father always said, “You ain’t done any work unless you can show it by getting dirty.” Growing up, I always played outside, getting grass stains on my knees and mud all over my jeans. Playing wasn’t work. When I weld sparks, from putting the rod to the metal, they fly and hit upon me. The sparks are a dirty mess, leaving stains of brownish black on my shirt. Also, when I finish a bead on a project, I must properly get ready for another bead. The way to get ready is beat off the slag from the weld that was caused by the coating on the electrode, or also known as a rod. I then grab my chipping hammer and start hitting the slag off, and behold it reveals a bead, a finished weld. The dust from beating on the slag will carry its way to my pants legs by the way of my gloves. I usually hit my gloves against my pants to get a little dust off them. The dust gets on my gloves when I beat the slag off. My leather gloves used to be beautiful dove white gloves; now they are black from welding. Not all women are scared to get dirty and to wear out what they paid over 50 dollars for. As a lady in a trade with few other women, I get little sympathy. The sparks, if they get hot enough, penetrate through my work shirt, making a little hole. The sparks, when welding overhead, are not the only splatter coming down. Little pieces of hot dripping metal along with these sparks can burn through a typical thick denim jacket, causing small burns on my skin. The burns are battle scars of good welding. Most women are not even afraid of getting hurt on the job. Yet, when I get a leather-sleeved welding jacket to wear, the sparks and molten metal can no longer navigate their way through and burn my forearms. Most men perceptions of women are wrong because women will do a dangerous job. Quote that I am not afraid of getting burned and ruining my tan; even though, I do not have one. As a young woman, I do take a little pride in my hair. I wear a welding hat, which is like a stretchy cloth hat with a bill. The bill is used to put over the ear, when the ear is toward the direction welding. It protects the ears from having sparks go into them. When welding, I stuff my ponytail into the hat to prevent it from catching a spark causing a discomforting fire. Many men in the industry of welding have long hair also. These men take a little pride in their hair as women do and also stuff their hair either into their hat or workshirt. I have even caught on fire from a spark, several months back. I was welding on a vertical T-joint one day. I used the E6010 electrode to weld with, and it was very messy. It splatters sparks everywhere. The sparks fly up and down, and side to side. When I was finished making a bead I put my left hand on my side, and I felt extreme heat going through my gloves. I started thinking, “Boy, it’s hot in here. My upper thigh sure feels a little extra hot.”Then I lifted up my welding hood, and lo and behold, flames were making their way slowly around the bottom of my denim shirt. I dropped the electrode holder out of my left hand. Then I started to beat out the flame. I did, finally, after it scared me. I was a little shaky from then on, but I kept working. The front bottom left of my shirt was gone. Part of my pants turned blackish brown from the small breath-taking fire. Fires may happen while working on a project in a fabrication shop: which is where I would like to work one day. Catching on fire and dealing with it shows that women welders are able to work as men do. As a young woman in welding, I have encountered the problems of staying clean. I love to weld and getting dirty in the process is just part of the job. I got over the part of getting dirty. I love seeing the accomplishment of working with my hands; even though I may have caught on fire in the process. When I seeing something I put together, it makes my heart jump for joy. For me, there is always an upside of welding. Men aren’t the only ones who don’t care about getting dirty. Women in the welding industry is the upside of welding, because we are not afraid of getting a little messy during a job.