The article examines the poignant presence of discarded boots along the roads in New Mexico, symbolizing the lives and struggles of oil workers. A former worker, Diego García, shares his experience battling leukemia after exposure to drilling waste, expressing fears of being blacklisted for speaking out. This narrative intertwines the reality of dangerous work conditions with the personal sacrifices families endure when workers are often away for long stretches. As the article emphasizes, a 'good day' for these workers is merely a day without incident, illustrating a persistent shadow of risk in their lives.
"They leave their memories there," a former oil worker, who asks to go by the pseudonym Diego García, tells me. García, 36, is undergoing chemotherapy treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which he developed while cleaning sites contaminated with drilling waste. He's worried that employers won't hire him again if they learn he spoke to a journalist. "Some people leave pants, too." He laughs.
I think about what the workers stood on when they wore the boots - rigs, spilled oil, tanks, truckbeds, caliche - and how many hours they wore them, during shifts that could span five straight days and nights, no sleep. These were hours of absence, when the workers were away from home, and the people who loved them couldn't see them. And the fence becomes a fence between the fields and home.
"A good day," says Marcos Carranza, "is a day without danger." The Carranza family's front door is wide open, a rectangle glowing bright on the dark row of houses.
The heavy silhouettes of pump jacks and processing plants hover behind them. Bootheels point up to the sky.
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