You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive...
"In the deep dark hills above Eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I traced my bloodline
It was there I read on a hillside gravestone
You'll never leave Harlan alive..."
Tragedy and mining seem to go hand in hand these days.
posted by Tony Alva @ 10:11 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Tragedy and mining have always gone hand in hand. What's a shame is that in this day and age, much of the tragedy is preventable.
Greed and tragedy have always gone hand in hand.
Mining companies have long ignored the dangers their workers face, all for the sake of a buck.
When I hear that respirators failed yet again at this mine I have to agree with you both.
I also remember friends back in highschool who took jobs painting the Bear Mountian bridge each summer. They made double what I was making at my summer job, the stepped up compensation obviously attributed to the increased danger of the work. From what I read and hear from the miners, it's esentially the same situation for them. It seems that for folks in these nowhere towns, working in the mines is a high risk, high reward occupation like painting suspension bridges.
I know I was, and still remain too chicken, to do either.
Chicken - sensible - in this case it's the same.
Or it could be that you're not as desperate for work as these miners are or were.
I'll bet if it came down to your family starving vs. your crawling into one of those mines, you'd go.
The right word might be "lucky".
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060520091109990002&cid=505
This mine was cited 41 times in 5 years. 41 FUCKING TIMES.
Why was it not shut down? Whose fault is this?
Unbelievable! I share your anger. Is FEMA managing mine safety too?
"The right word might be 'lucky'"
I am a lucky guy, that can't be denied. Maybe your right, perhaps if I lived in Harlan County and had a family to feed I'd be down there diggin' coal with those guys. I hope my wife would also convince me to explore the idea of moving too.
You could always hope that a man from the notheast will arrive to pay you for your min'rals...
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