Dreamland

Mining Hazards

I'm a young man in my mid-twenties living in the Depression era (1930's). I'm broke and hungry, hitchhiking across the country looking for work. I meet up with a guy who says he heard they are hiring at a nearby mine. There is a pickup truck with the mining company name painted on the side parked in front of a market. We climb in the back of the truck and hide behind a pile of rocks in the truck bed, so the driver won't see us.

Once the truck is back at the mine, we jump out and head over to the office, a shack near the mine entrance. The boss says they're not hiring, he doesn't need any more miners. The guy I'm with says we're not miners, we're shoring workers. He tells the boss we specialize in putting up the corrugated galvanized steel walls used to reinforce mine shafts, and we're the best men in the field (although I don't know the first thing about how to do this).

The boss points to a rusty section of wall in the mine, says if we can replace it without any other help, we're hired. The two of us rip down the old section of wall and somehow manage to get the new corrugated panel up successfully without the mine caving in. We're both totally exhausted. The boss hires us, and shows us to the bunkhouse.

The building is lit with old-fashioned gas lamps. I ask the boss why he doesn't have electricity. His reply: "I don't trust it. The old bunkhouse had electric lights, the wiring caught fire and the place burned to the ground. Thirteen miners were killed in that fire..."

I'm in line for dinner at the company cafeteria. The food server is a good-looking blonde, wearing tight Levi's and a denim work shirt tied at the waist. She's got curves in all the right places, kinda reminds me of Daisy Duke. She's flirting with the miners as they go up to get their food from her. I'm daydreaming, wondering what she'd look like naked. I comment to the guy next to me in line: "Man, I bet she'd be lots of fun in bed."

He replies: "I'd leave her alone if I were you, especially if you want to keep your job here. She's the boss's daughter."