[pepsi_junkie]

They make a LOT of money. It's dangerous and miserable, as you say. But men do it because they can make a lot more in a season than a year doing contruction or something.

On a side note, whenever I hear about the "gender wage gap" I muse how something like 99% of all work related deaths happen to men. Men take the dangerous jobs that pay more, they take risk to reap rewards (they hope). Women don't. Just one of many reasons men make more, but it's not really "equal work".

[HamiltonJay]

For ever 100 women killed on the job, well over 1000 men die on the job..... its not 99% women are more than 10 times less likely to die on the job than a man.

[gibsonguy]

Good point, I just bristle when these rat jerks start the “comparable worth” crap. Where some Government hack determines a female office assistant should get paid as much as they pay a male welder who works 10 stories up in the air welding support beams.

[Rummyfan]

They make a LOT of money. It's dangerous and miserable, as you say. But men do it because they can make a lot more in a season than a year doing construction or something.

Yes, the potential reward outweighs the danger. Sounds like the captain got a little careless. Tragically so.