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My dad is a directional driller. It was a tempting, well paying job 30 years ago, and for many it still is at least here in Alberta. I was absolutely forbidden to go into the oil patch. My dad went as far as to tell his network not to hire me (as he is one of the 'old boys' that everyone knows to a little bit), he has contemporaries running a large portion of the drilling companies. When I was looking for a co-sign to buy a truck after highschool, it was given only on the condition that I would not use it to drive to an oil-based job.
At the time I thought it was pretty ridiculous and unfair, and even now I know people that are making six figures a year working the rigs. However, I'm rather happy that I have little in common with them and I have learned that my dad is not a representative sample.
In the big picture, my blue collar dad had pushed his kids away from certain jobs (my sister away from nursing, my brother away from the RCMP (as his dad was) and me away from the trades), but he never directed us elsewhere and we were able to find something we actually wanted to do. My sister is a pharmacist, my brother is a lawyer, and I'll soon be an engineer.
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