My Response to Jim T.

The Real Oilfield Wives have a blog in which I follow. This morning one of the writers, Ashley posted THIS in response to an article written by Jim Tankersley which you can find HERE. 

I encourage everyone to read Jim's article and then read Ashley's response to how she felt about it. 

I, too, took to letting Jim T. know how I felt about what he wrote: 

Thanks for the response. I hope you read the article that Ashley wrote.

Let me start by saying you have not made friends with the wives with that article. I cannot speak for 

Ashley and her family however I can give you insight into mine down in south Texas, in the heart of 

the Eagle Ford Shale. 

My husband is an educated man. He graduated from Texas State University. He was a teacher and 

a coach for many years all over the state of Texas. He left that job to move back home to be close 

to his sick grandmother and was able to be picked up by a local oilfield company with whom have 

kids he grew up with. 

Fact - most men in the industry are educated. They may not have college degrees which is the education measure you used however they have to get certifications and special training to be able to properly and safely perform their jobs. Being educated doesn't mean you have to have a college degree. Just like Ashley stated in her article, she is a very educated woman by your college standards however I feel the same way in the sense that I do not know if I could perform my husband's job to his level of professionalism and accuracy and I too carry a BBA in Entrepreneurship and a minor in Real Estate from the University of North Texas. 

Working in the oilfield is not a lottery ticket. I do not even understand that term nor have I ever heard it. 

Just because you can claim you have a job in the oilfield doesn't mean that you all of a sudden are 

raking in the money. 

My husband is not on the drilling side which is where the majority of the mass amounts of money is, which is also the side of the industry that your subject of your article was on. The service companies took a big hit, as did the drilling side when the rigs started to get stacked. My husband is on the completions side. A very different aspect to the oilfield that most do not think about. He is still working for a very large and prominent coil tubing company. Yet again, as Ashley stated in your article, we are facing tough times and keep our fingers crossed that we make it through any more layoffs. 

If I could just say that your article seemed one-sided and degrading to the wives of educated (college degree or not) oilfield workers who continue to bust their butts regardless of the industry's current standings. We are not oilfield trash as many people call us. 

If I could ask where you got your stats on the education level of oilfield workers that you mention? "More than 9 out of 10 oil and gas jobs are held by men without college degrees."

Thank you for your time. 

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If you want to contact Jim T yourself you can do so at jim.tankersley@washpost.com 

or on Twitter at @jimtankersley