The previous post about "How did you get started in surveying" touched a nerve when one posted said his father tried to discourage him.
At one time in our history some folks did not look upon surveyors in a very favorable light. I've always assumed it was due to a vague tie to the government or the condemnation of lands for public use. Neither are very popular in Oklahoma, especially in rural areas.
Lake Eufaula is a large COE operated multi-use reservoir in Eastern Oklahoma. The construction began in the late fifties and the dam was completed and began impounding water in 1964 I believe. As the seventies rolled around the lake was nearing its operating capacity and there was still hundreds of miles of undetermined fee boundary between the Federal and Private interests. Lots of surveying to complete through some very rough country. Fate chose me to be an instrument man on one of the many crews that helped determine and monument the boundary.
While this story is about a general mistrust of surveyors in rural America, it is not about me. There was a helper on our crew that was straight out of high school, Cody. He was so green it hurt, with milk still dripping from his ear. With his given name "Cody" we quickly tried to bolster his fledgling manhood with a nickname "Wild Bill".
The town of Eufaula was small with only a few hotels. The crews eventually settled into some reasonable digs. The firm we worked for had found a local café that would carry a tab for us. After breakfast they would even pack us a brown bag lunch of sammichs 'n chips. Life was good, work was hot and hard.
One morning at the café this cute little skinny young thang named Shirley Ann nervously approached our table to take our order. She was new at waitressing and it showed. Everybody at the booth saw it when it happened....her eyes met Cody's. If you've ever seen a movie where they showed stars twinkling in people's eyes, I'm here to tell you it REALLY happens. Cody stuttered and couldn't look at her, she turned red and dropped stuff...we all knew it was luv at first sight!
He took a little ribbing from us, but not much. We all made sure that every morning Cody wound up on the outside of the booth. This fella needed some exposure to wimmen and he had five or six surveyors making sure he did it right.
After a month or so it was apparent that these two love birds were an item. First he started going to Wednesday night song service with Shirley and her family. By the time we left town a few months later they were in a bowling league together and had even walked downtown to a movie, by themselves! 😉
The weather grew warm and the leaves came out. Our boundary work was just about complete and our numbers had dropped to only one crew. The boss decided we would spend the summer drawing up all the boundaries and would return again in the fall to complete the chore of setting the COE brass tablets in concrete. We all came back to OKC and worked local for a while. We all assumed that Cody had kept in touch with Shirley Ann and were surprised when we learned he hadn't. Cody told us he had the feeling that her father never really liked him. He had left contact info with her, but never heard a thing.
Between local jobs, logistics and weather it was actually after Christmas when we finally made it back to Eufaula. We were all sitting in the suburban outside the bank on the first day back into town and guess who strolled by on the sidewalk?
I was about to say 'hey, isn't that Shirley' when I noticed she was carrying a wee baby on her shoulder. We all looked at Cody and he was white as a ghost. She saw us and almost bolted like a doe, but she turned back around...We all saw those twinkles again in both their eyes!
Cody jumped out and they wound up on the bus stop bench. The party chief climbed back in the truck with our per-diem money and we brought him up to date. We collectively agreed the truck wasn't going ANYWHERE until Cody and Shirley got all caught-up.
It took a while. We saw tears and laughter and anger and hugging. There was a fine novel unfolding in front of us...page by page. They parted with a smooch and Cody even kissed the baby on his forehead. Nobody said a word on the way to the hotel.
Finally the party chief looked in the rear view mirror and asked, "Is it yours?"
We had never seen such a powerful look on Cody's face. He wanted to kill the PC for his remark. We all left him to his thoughts as we unpacked. A few hours later there was a knock on the hotel room door. It was Shirley's father and brother. They stepped inside and four surveyors went to defcom 3 in a heartbeat. We take care of our own...
Shirley's father extended his hand, called him "son" and asked if he'd like to come to the house for dinner, and a talk! You could've heard a pin drop in the room. Cody nodded, grabbed a jacket and away they went. He called a few hours later and said he was staying the night at Shirley's folks, but her brother would drop him off in the morning for work. If I remember right, we toasted Cody and Shirley all night until the Wild Turkey was gone...:pinch:
To bring it all home: Cody eventually filled us in on all the details. When he saw Shirley and baby on the sidewalk he had to ask if it was his baby. She had told him "you know it is". He couldn't understand why she hadn't phoned or written. He was adamant that he would have stepped up and "made things right". Shirley said she had talked it over with her father..his remark was "He would just as soon have a bastard in the family as a surveyor." true story..:-) Moral of the story: some folks just don't like surveyors...
Cody made it into the family fold with blessings. They were married a few months later and Cody moved to Eufaula. I found out later they had moved back to OKC and Cody had found work at the local AFB. I saw him some years later and Cody, Jr. was a senior in high school, with three other little brothers and sisters.
Now you know the rest of the story.
great story, unc!
Great story BUT
Eufaula is in Alabama and Lake Eufaula is on the Alabama - Georgia line (true). I guess when old Andy Jackson moved all (or at least most) the Indians out of the southeast to Oklahoma the names went with them.
Andy
Great story BUT
Had no idea, but it doesn't surprise me. We really didn't get it together as a state until 1907..by then all the good names were taken!
Dang, Boy, that was a goodin. Write another! B-)
Big Jim and the Waitress (another long, but true story)
> Dang, Boy, that was a goodin. Write another! B-)
OK, since you enjoy my yarns so much and my game isn't on yet, I'll spin another.
Big Jim and the Waitress
I'm not going to mention his last name, but Jim was one helluva surveyor. Anybody that remembers Jim also remembers his nickname "Sasquatch". He was a massive human being. He had hair to his plumb-bob and a beard (that started just below his eyes) that went almost as south as his hair. I bet he wore size 16 boots. Even though he had a primate-type look about him, his nickname was actually derived from his scent. Sitting in close quarters with him would make your eyes water. Jim smelled so bad he could drive a buzzard away from road kill. But he was really a nice guy. Not an ounce of any social skills, but a nice guy....that smelled.
If we were playing pool in some seedy beer joint, it wasn't uncommon for Jim to break the ice by telling a girl "you sure got nice t*ts..". Jim got slapped a lot and got us all into some scrapes that I'd rather forget. Let's just say Jim spoke his mind.
But something not a lot of folks knew was why he ALWAYS wore a ball-cap. Jim was bald as a friar on top and a little self-conscious about it. He even slept in his ball-cap when we were bunking in hotel rooms.
Once we were all on a construction site up at Grand Lake O' the Cherokees. They were building a resort and golf course and our hotel was ten miles west in Vinita. We worked until sundown one evening and a good meal was in order. We were all pretty bored with the Pizza Hut in Vinita and started looking for someplace to get dinner.
Out near the lake there was a fancy-schmancy steak house off the highway that didn't open until sundown. It was late, we were hungry and the place was open.
The maître d' was a little taken by our appearance. We did kick most of the mud off our boots before we went inside, but I guess our dress was less than what was expected. We were seated in an obscure corner and told our waitress would be there shortly.
When she arrived I could tell she wasn't happy with having us there. Jim nailed our coffin shut by asking her, "Aren't there any waitresses here that aren't ugly ?"...
She ignored him. After she had got us all ice water and menus she told Jim that he was going to have to take his hat off. He respectfully told her that anybody that tried to remove his hat would wind up dead. We all knew Jim meant it. He not only carried a beautiful razor sharp Case hunting knife, he was good with it. The waitress dropped the subject and took our orders.
Now this was a fancy steak house, they didn't even have a burger on the menu. The cheapest thing on the menu was a chopped steak. It came with a salad, but the tater was extra. We all ordered the chopped steak.
Apparently Jim had his appetite set for a burger. After the waitress had brought our orders out he caught her and politely asked for "a couple of warm buns he could slip his meat in between...". I thought she was going pour hot coffee in his lap.
"I could take that as vulgar", she told him in an aggravated tone.
"You can take it any way you want" Jim said, "I just want an order of toast for my steak...". She returned in a bit and plopped his toast down in front of him...with our meal check. Jim was happy that he had pissed someone off and we ate our meal quietly.
At the register the waitress made a point to stop by and tell us all "don't come back". Jim slowly took one of his business cards out and wrote his hotel room number on the back. He handed it to her and told her to "come and see him if she wanted to get her bad attitude fixed..." I was embarrassed, she was gone in huff, and Jim's shoulders just rocked as he chuckled. As we walked out the door he grinned and told us all "I think she likes me." Jim was like that.
I was in a different room and got the story second hand. But apparently around 1 AM the waitress showed up at Jim's hotel room with a bottle. He ran his bunkmates out of the room (they all came to my room).
Jim was in the restaurant early the next morning reading the paper and drinking coffee. I asked him how his evening went. All he said was he didn't get much sleep...Jim was a man of few words. :snarky:
Jim passed away a few years ago. I was sorry to see him leave. Although Jim never obtained his license, he was one helluva surveyor. There's nobody I would rather have working next to me...as long as I was upwind...;-)
Big Jim and the Waitress (another long, but true story)
sounds like waitresses don't have much resistance to surveyors, unc.
My wife was a waitress when we met, come to think of it...
Big Jim and the Waitress (another long, but true story)
Mr Payden, would you consider doing a camping trip to Lake Eufaula, someday? Somehow, I think we could wear out a campfire, telling stories!
N
Love'em keep them coming..
I've laughed till I cried.
A very short Ontario surveying story
When the locals saw the Ontario Department of Highways survey crews arriving circa 1960s, in some areas of the Province the call was to: "Hide the women and the chickens, and not necessarily in that order !"
Cheers,
Derek
Big Jim and the Waitress (another long, but true story)
"Anybody that remembers Jim"
Yep, if he's the same Jim that was in cell block 32a while I was/am in 32f. Funny guy. 😉
These stories are great! Thank you, guys
I just love true stories so much more than what people dream up.
Enjoyed the stories! 😀
:beer:
A true story (short, but true)
My wife worked as a waitress before we were married in Salt Lake City. She had a somewhat regular male customer that keep making the remarks and a bit of touching her legs. She finally had enough and accidentally spilled a nice hot cup of coffee right where it counts. The harassment stopped, he even stopped coming to the restaurant.
