US STEEL Edgar Thomson Works — Local services in Braddock

I felt scared, but it was because I was used to the pretty tour of steel in Durgapur and the out-of-commission Bethlehem Steel Stack tour, so when I finally came and saw an active steel plant that wasn’t a redacted version made for female tourism I felt scared about the scope for danger😐

I talked to a worker for a bit, and even though his skin was clean coming from home it had the sooty wear on it of someone who is under industrial stress.

Mostly I cried about his skincare routine in the car ride home because it dawned upon me that I’ve probably been safeguarded from what blue collar men do for a long time, and I’m about to enter a time period of life when it won’t be avoidable anymore. I feel bad for them.

I saw their Facebook group, and they seem to have togetherness, so that’s good. I don’t know why something about this visit...

I toured the Edgar Thompson Steel Works in the 1970's with my uncle who was a metallurgist there. He took us right up onto the floor where steel was being made in giant cauldrons. It was tremendously exciting. I'm disgusted that successive U.S. governments gave up so much of this industry. Bad leadership begets poverty...

While steel has advanced society, the pollutants the companies involved in the industry have left behind and in some cases continue to spew out have contaminated the surrounding areas and are responsible for a myriad of health conditions ranging from asthma to cancer. A bit of history, and something...