A Twitter poll, turned tribute to our fathers and the careers that put food on our family’s tables
Later in the evening of Father’s Day, I was thinking about my dad (pictured above) and his not-too-common job of being a coal miner in Illinois. He’s been working in that mine since before I was born (I turn 30 in a month), and will be there for a little while longer before he retires. Despite the backbreaking labor, incredible risks, and long hours, he’s been there this whole time to provide for my family. This got me thinking about how so many of our fathers are unsung heroes, and sparked a desire to know what everyone else’s dads did for their jobs.
So I sent a tweet, and started a hashtag
I'm curious what everyone's dads do or did for work? I'll tag it with #dadjobs – My dad is a coal miner.
— Matt Galligan (@mg) June 16, 2014
For the next few hours the tweets rolled in and each one, I retweeted. 86 responses in total! It was so fascinating to see how many different kinds of careers our dads had, and in so many cases how lucky we were to be their kids. So rather than let this fun little moment on Twitter go by the way of a flutter, I thought it best to catalog the responses. Check them out below. There are some fantastic ones in there.
Thanks, dads
@mg My dad is a veteran. A former search and rescue communications sergeant. #dadjobs
— Mick Côté (@MickCote) June 16, 2014
.@mg Great idea, mine is a federal investigator for the Food Safety and Inspection Service. #dadjobs
— Tom Maxwell (@tomaxwell) June 16, 2014
@mg bartender, projectionist, Chief Petty Officer USN, skip tracer, systems analyst. Those are the only ones he told me about. #dadjobs
— Robert Stephens (@rstephens) June 16, 2014
@MickCote @mg my dad is a int'l agricultural salesman (of stuff like grain storage silos etc)
— David Prager (@dlprager) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad owns a bar. #dadjobs
— Billy Carlson (@billycarlson) June 16, 2014
@mg lawyer/entrepreneur #dadjobs
— Bryce Roberts (@bryce) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad installed acoustic ceilings wearing stilts and my stepdad was an ironworker & race car driver turned landscape designer #dadjobs
— Megan Elyse (@megspeakslove) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad was a professor #dadjobs
— TeslaFanboy (@electrifyfuture) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad came to USA on soccer scholarship (on right). He still plays soccer, is director of a competitive club. pic.twitter.com/Fn9oxbSvDC
— Michelle (@redheadlefthand) June 16, 2014
@mg mine is/was a lawyer
— Ryan King (@rk) June 16, 2014
@rk @mg Mine is a maintenance worker at a food plant. #dadjobs
— Lynn Collette (@pdxposhy) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad is a pastor and a coach. when my mom had cancer and money was low, he also was a newspaper delivery man. #dadjobs #proudson
— aaron hendrick 🧢 (@achendrick) June 16, 2014
@mg corrugated box salesman
— Michael Dean (@dean_mj) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad was a nuclear physicist, a university lecturer & education researcher. He also helped get books behind the Iron Curtain #dadjobs
— Kevin Marks (@kevinmarks) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad's a mechanical engineer who helped build factories. He also took great care of us whenever mom was in hospital. #dadjobs
— Naveen Venkataraman (@nvenkataraman1) June 16, 2014
@mg my stepdad was an electrical wholesaler. Supplied electrical supplies for large structures. #dadjobs
— A-A-Ron (@aaroni) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad was a social worker who helped physically-disabled people find and keep jobs. (I doubt my description does it justice.) #dadjobs
— Max Wendkos (@maxwendkos) June 16, 2014
@mg thanks for the rt, thanks for asking the question — matters more than u know.
— Michelle (@redheadlefthand) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad just retired and was a professor of education. #dadjobs
— Jeremy D. Franklin, PhD (@jeremyfranklin) June 16, 2014
@mg farmer
— atkevine (@atkevine) June 16, 2014
— slobotski (@slobotski) June 16, 2014
@mg Physician, founder of numerous free medical clinics & programs to help folks in rural Central America. And avid reader. And bad puns.
— Scott Campbell (@threedukes) June 16, 2014
@mg (whether we realize it or not) … We have to believe they've done the best they could with what they had/were capable of.
— Michelle (@redheadlefthand) June 16, 2014
@mg Middle management for the state of PA. #dadjobs
— Kristen Hawley (@kh) June 16, 2014
@mg international drug smuggler #dadjobs
— allen (@allenjlawson) June 16, 2014
HIgh school teacher RT @mg: I'm curious what everyone's dads do or did for work? I'll tag it with #dadjobs – My dad is a coal miner.
— Bugfrog says Support the Arts Community (@bugfrog) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad worked on the railroad for 25 years. #dadjobs
— Chad Halvorson (@chadworks) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad was a high school chemistry/math/spanish teacher #dadjobs
— Mike Champion (@graysky) June 16, 2014
@mg habitat biologist. #dadjobs
— Will Clark 🌹 (@RobotDeathSquad) June 16, 2014
@mg cattleman
— Trei Brundrett (@clockwerks) June 16, 2014
@mg Food scientist. (Still get scolded for eating food colouring and I'm 26.) #dadjobs
— 錢彥霖 | AMY CHYAN (@ayl) June 16, 2014
@mg pharmacist like Ned Flanders
— Michael Dwan (@MichaelDwan) June 16, 2014
@mg Librarian at a public high school. He was only guy in his graduating Library Science class at UMD. #dadjobs
— riz~love your healthcare providers plz~ (@Rizzz) June 16, 2014
@ThisJoAnn @mg My dad was a city bus driver. I think he loved it. #dadjobs
— Charlotte (@monstergirlee) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad was recording engineer @ Motown in Detroit '67-73. Today told how he got the trumpet echos in Papa Was a Rollin' Stone final mix.
— Brian C. Shensky (@bshensky) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad’s an electrical engineer that designed embedded defibrillators and ASIC chips, then became a missionary. Still a geek. #dadjobs
— Matthew Guay (@maguay) June 16, 2014
Ran cemeteries. Gravedigger “@mg: I’m curious what everyone’s dads do or did for work? I’ll tag it with #dadjobs – My dad is a coal miner.”
— brandik (@brandik) June 16, 2014
My dad was a diplomat. RT @mg: I’m curious what everyone’s dads do or did for work? #dadjobs
— ᐯᓰᑕ☂ᗢᖇ (@MyCaricature) June 16, 2014
@mg Debt collector in Eastern Europe (scary!) #dadjobs
— Alexandra Michailov (@AleksMichailov) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad was an electrician for local 3 ibew in NYC for 35 years. #dadjobs
— Craig “App Man” Caruso (@craigcaruso) June 16, 2014
@mg Truck Driver. Did long hauls to help family. Now all grown up so he can get away with short. Taught me to drive too. Great dad. #dadjobs
— Bartek Ciszkowski (@bartekci) June 16, 2014
@mg I feel lucky to be a farmer's daughter. There's nothing better about my childhood than remembering days at the barn. #dadjobs
— Rebecca Maas (@ohhellobecca) June 16, 2014
@mg USMC, Aviator (flew Harriers) #dadjobs
— Yardboy (@Yardboy) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad did construction until 2 years ago. Now he works part time as a parts driver for a dealership. #dadjobs
— Samantha Roberts (@SamanthaDear8) June 16, 2014
@mg Son of a steelworker, got out, saw the world on carriers in Vietnam, then worked up from fuel truck driver to regional head of safety.
— Justin Miller (@incanus77) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad runs IT for Florida Board of Realtors, he turned me into a geek at an early age #dadjobs
— Anthony DeRosa 🗽 (@Anthony) June 16, 2014
@mg my Dad was a metals #entrepreneur and retired in his 40s. #LikeABoss
— Baksht.data™ (@jbaksht) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad built a PR agency (with mom), now invests in startups etc. Named me after a computer, so born geek 🙂 #myinspiration #dadjobs
— Trace Cohen (@Trace_Cohen) June 16, 2014
@mg carpenter & CAD tech in the 80’s
— Joshua Strebel (@strebel) June 16, 2014
@mg Former physicist, now runs a non-profit dedicated to making the U.S. more competitive in STEM education.
— Mike Corones (@corones) June 16, 2014
@mg: My dad was a fighter pilot and then an officer in the air force #dadjobs
— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) June 16, 2014
@mg @Michelle_RJones pharmacist #dadjobs
— Tim Cottrell (@timcottrell7782) June 16, 2014
@mg I'm late, but: Brazilian Air Force & private pilot, nuclear engineer, now does woodworking, home remodeling, construction.
— Fabio Carneiro (@flcarneiro) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad retired a couple of years ago. Local lineman w/ Southern Co/Alabama Power for 40+ years, IBEW member, Navy vet #dadjobs
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) June 16, 2014
And the response from Alabama Power to @espiers tweet!:
@espiers @mg We appreciate his 40 years plus. Wishing him a happy father's day! #yourdadrocks -Toni
— Alabama Power (@alabamapower) June 16, 2014
@mg Database Administrator turned Computer Science professor. #dadjobs
— Joseph McLaughlin (@mclaughj) June 16, 2014
@Jason @mg My dad is an optometrist. He and my mom worked hard and sacrificed to make a great life for my brothers & me. #grateful #dadjobs
— 𝕀𝕒𝕟 𝔾𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕣 ☕️ 📲 (@IanGertler) June 16, 2014
@mg @michaeltomko: @mg My dad is the CTO for Dunn & Bradstreet. Been a CIO/CTO in-house or for-hire for probably 20 years or more. #dadjobs
— Michael Tomko (@michaeltomko) June 16, 2014
.@mg My dad was an accountant for a few government agencies. #dadjobs #beancounter
— Alan Christensen (@alanchr5412) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad grew up in poverty in Louisiana. Worked 18hr days as a stock boy in grocery stores. Became the CEO of many. #dadjobs
— Lindseymgreen (@Lindseymgreen) June 16, 2014
— Owen Thomas (@owenthomas) June 16, 2014
@mg mine is a lawyer and wind energy developer. All those you see in altamont, Palm spring and more. Him. #dadjobs
— Dylan Boyd (@dtboyd) June 16, 2014
@mg My dad did wallpapering and painting and now he’s an attorney.
— Joel Longtine (@jlongtine) June 16, 2014
@owenthomas @mg Mediator #dadjobs
— Jessica Hilberman (@saysjessbess) June 16, 2014
@mg english teacher, movie critic, sports radio announcer, and civil rights lawyer
— Shane Steele (@shanesteele) June 16, 2014
@shanesteele @mg teacher #dadjobs
— Jason Chupick (@JasonChupick) June 16, 2014
@mg farmer father taught me to do it right the first time. Approach problems from all angles.
— atkevine (@atkevine) June 16, 2014
@mg auto service and parts small business owner. Long time professional mechanic. #dadjobs
— Tyler Stalder (@tylerstalder) June 16, 2014
@mg my dad- a marketing exec turned business/life coach and university professor. <3
— stephdub (@stephdub) June 16, 2014
@mg Dad was an engineer. Then was put in concentration camp by the communist regimes in Vietnam. Now fulltime carer for my mum #dadjobs
— Bruce Cat (@brucecat) June 16, 2014
@mg mine was a Pipefitter for 20 years. Went back to school (grad HS a year before me) and now heads up the IT dept. of a major company.
— Daniel is supposed to be writing. (@danielwolden) June 16, 2014
And there it is! Here’s to our dads…
