saveliberty Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Wall Street Journal: November 20, 2012, 8:03 p.m. ET Michael Devaney: He Was a Lineman for the Company It takes courage and raw physicality to keep the lights on for the rest of us. By MICHAEL DEVANEY A lineman with Harlan Electrical Construction repairs power lines that were brought down by Superstorm Sandy in Sea Cliff, N.Y. Life without electrical power, as the victims of Hurricane Sandy can attest, is inconvenient, uncomfortable and often boring. For the people who repair Sandy's damage, however, it can be lethal. I know, because I grew up in a household where the breadwinner worked for a power company. After flying 32 missions over Europe as a ball-turret-gunner on a B17, my dad returned home in 1946 and took a job with Ameren Electric, based in St. Louis. As a kid, if I was still awake when he returned home from a trouble call, I would sit at the kitchen table while he ate a warmed-up dinner served by my mother. He shoveled in food like he was feeding a coal furnace, and metaphorically speaking he was: Pulling double shifts while dangling in the air during a subzero ice storm burns a lot of calories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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