'20 years of welding gave me the shakes' - Ex-Welder living with tremors #confessions
This is the second entry in a series, where we publish personal stories from people our writers have reached out to in person (having obtained their consent beforehand, and preserving their privacy). We have renamed the man Frank. We have also transcribed a recorded conversation between one of our writers and Frank (having deleted the recording afterwards, as he demanded).
Note: TDS = thedailysteem
TDS: Hey, Frank!
Frank: You good?
TDS: Sure. Let me know when you're ready.
Frank: [sips beer] Yeah let's go. What do you want to know?
TSD: What do you think caused the shakes, and when did they start?
Frank: Right. So, I've been a welder since I was a kid. Left high school with no diploma, was like 18 or 19, I think. My uncles and my pop, are all welders. We're a family of welders. So it was kinda expected that I'd just sort of joined "the trade". I was fine with that, they earned good money, and had ended their careers with their own homes, and a nice family. Typical hard-working, stable laborer family.
Few months after I left high school, got an apprenticeship through my uncle's referral. So 20 years went by - It's not like one day I just started getting the shakes - know what I mean? As time went by my hand just started shaking a bit, and it got worse.
I was working with a lot of carbon steel, and must have inhaled some fumes - Manganese poisoning maybe, that's what some doctor told me. I was fine for a few years though, and kept working.
Welding demands a lot of precision, you know what I mean? I was putting myself in danger, and the quality of my work was just falling. One day, I went over to my boss, let him know what was up. He's a nice guy, family man. Always listened to union. Known him for a decade. Anyways, we arranged some sort of layoff pay, and that was that.
TDS: So how was life after? Did you undergo any medical treatment?
Frank: Nah. Too much money, and I didn't need it. Yeah, the shakes just keep getting worse, but I have a wife, two kids, inherited my pop's home. Life is fine. Couple beers and it calms them down a little. At least it seems that way.
I miss welding though. I've just been sittin' around. Not doing much. Hanging out with old union buddies. I'm not a whiner though. I've accepted this, and I live with it. Whenever I feel low or pissed off - I just think of my wife and my kids. My family is everything to me. I don't need much else [sips beer]
Yeah, I see myself as real lucky. Got a real nice family...
