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Odd Jobs, Dirty Jobs, and the Job That Nearly Killed Me (Cowboy Coffee Hour Podcast)
Mar 22, 2026
In this powerful episode, I'm discussing some of my wildest jobs. And two that resulted in near-death experiences. From being buried alive in a sinkhole to freezing in a cow pasture. This isn't just about dirty jobs; it's a profound story of resilience, faith, and the cowboy wisdom that got me through. If you've ever felt stuck or faced overwhelming odds, this story will give you the inspiration to keep climbing the ladder of life and appreciate every breath.
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Kent Rollins
Cowboy Cooking, Cast Iron, Outdoor Cooking, Grilling, Dutch Oven Cooking
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0:00
I just remember thinking, "Dig for all
0:02
you've got." And I can remember the
0:04
taste of dirt in my mouth. I remember
0:07
saying these words, "I guess this is it,
0:09
God. Please tell my children I love
0:11
them."
0:16
Howdy, my name is Kent Rollins. I've
0:18
been a cowboy and a chuck wagon cook for
0:20
over 30 years, cooking for ranches all
0:23
across America. You might have seen me
0:25
on the Food Network or alongside my
0:27
beautiful wife Shannon on our YouTube
0:29
show where we share cowboy cooking from
0:31
the trail. But now we're going to take
0:33
you behind the scenes to real campfire
0:35
conversations. Join us as we share
0:38
humor, cowboy wisdom, and stories full
0:40
of history, heart, faith, and of course,
0:43
a little fire. So, grab you a cup of
0:45
coffee, pull up a chair, and welcome to
0:48
the podcast.
0:54
Hey, thank y'all for joining us again
0:56
today. We ain't building a fire, but
0:58
it's cold enough down here this morning
1:00
we could build a fire in the floor.
1:01
>> It's a little cool. We had the, you
1:03
know, a big snowstorm come through.
1:04
>> Yeah, I remember building a fire in the
1:06
closet when I was little upstairs
1:08
because we was camping out and my mama
1:10
didn't think it was a good ideal. Going
1:12
through life, my daddy always told me, I
1:14
mean, we was horseback a lot, we was
1:15
always I said, "You know, I'm going to
1:17
be I'm going to be a cowboy all my
1:18
life." And him and some of them
1:20
old-timers, they just sort of went to
1:22
laughing looked at me and they all
1:23
agreed on one thing.
1:25
>> What was that?
1:26
>> They said, "If you're going to be a
1:27
cowboy in life, you better have like 15
1:29
other jobs to go with it or you're going
1:31
to starve to death."
1:33
>> Uh yeah, cowboys always got to have
1:35
multiple jobs. And in fact, you have
1:37
had, before being a chuck wagon cowboy
1:40
cook, you have multiple, I want to say
1:43
odd, maybe even slightly dirty jobs. And
1:46
I think uh this would be a perfect time
1:48
to go through some of them.
1:50
>> Hey, I'm I'm ready. Maybe Mike Rowe will
1:51
join us. Ain't he that guy that does
1:53
dirty jobs?
1:54
>> He does. And not only that though, I
1:56
want to give a little teaser that two of
2:00
those jobs honest to God nearly killed
2:02
you.
2:02
>> Yeah, it was uh
2:04
something that changed my life after
2:06
that really forever.
2:08
Um
2:09
And it'll sneak up on you. I promise you
2:11
that.
2:11
>> Now, Kent, your jobs actually started as
2:14
a child, right? Like your mom and dad,
2:16
they had you kind of doing working,
2:18
doing chores as an early age.
2:22
>> You never know when a peop- somebody in
2:23
this day and time is going to say child
2:25
labor laws that weren't right. I get
2:27
jobs that I didn't know I was going to
2:29
have.
2:30
You know, back then you didn't have a
2:32
resume, you know, I mean, if people knew
2:34
you was good horseback, you know, that's
2:36
pretty good. But I can remember one time
2:40
I was about I don't know, maybe 11 years
2:42
old. Randy had come in cuz he's 6 years
2:45
older than I am. He'd come in from
2:46
football practice.
2:49
And he had a coach then, his name was
2:50
Coach O'Donnell. I didn't know what we
2:52
was doing for Coach O'Donnell, and I
2:53
think we got to back up to when I was
2:55
born to make this feel right.
2:57
>> Oh, wow. Okay.
2:57
>> premature. I was a small child. I was
3:00
the runt of the litter.
3:01
>> Okay.
3:02
>> I was always little.
3:04
You know, so little people can fit in
3:07
tight spaces, okay?
3:09
>> Okay.
3:10
>> So,
3:11
we drive over to Coach O'Donnell's
3:13
house, and I still don't really know
3:14
what's going on.
3:15
But when we step out of the car and the
3:17
wind's out of the south and we're parked
3:19
right there on sort of the north side
3:20
and the wind's blowing in my face,
3:22
and I told Randy, I said,
3:24
"There's something dead around here."
3:26
He said,
3:28
"It's part of your job."
3:29
>> Oh, no.
3:30
>> And I said, "What do you mean part of my
3:31
job?" And Coach O'Donnell come out, and
3:33
he was a pretty big fella.
3:35
We went around there beside uh the
3:36
house, and there was a crawl space, you
3:39
know, that you could go under the house.
3:42
And he said uh "Randy, I'm thank you for
3:44
bringing your little brother over here."
3:46
He said, "I think there's plenty of room
3:48
under there. I don't think he'll get
3:49
stuck no form or fashion under there.
3:51
But there's something dead under our
3:53
house that's been stinking, and we can
3:55
hardly stay in the house.
3:57
And I told Randy, I said,
3:59
"First of all, I don't like the dark
4:01
really, you know, when I was that
4:02
little. Second of all, I never did like
4:05
spiders, you know. And this is
4:07
summertime, and you know spiders
4:10
and there could be an occasional
4:11
rattlesnake under there where we lived,
4:14
you know? So, all these things was
4:15
entering my mind." And Randy said,
4:18
"Think about that $10."
4:20
Well, you can imagine $10.
4:24
I don't care what what it is. I'm
4:25
getting my $10. And this was a really
4:28
long house.
4:30
And they give me flashlight.
4:32
>> That was good of them.
4:33
>> And crawled under there, and you'd be
4:35
shining it around right in front of you.
4:37
And it's peering beam. That means
4:39
there's joist holding it up, but then
4:41
there's post coming down sitting on
4:43
rock. And you're having to weave your
4:45
round going back and forth through them.
4:47
Ain't no light under there sides this
4:49
flashlight, and it's all dirt, and it's
4:51
all dust, and it all stinks.
4:54
And as I get closer, I'm shining light
4:56
all the way around, and these big old
4:58
spiders in there. I mean, you see them
5:00
spider webs, you know, and you're doing
5:01
this. And Randy's saying, "Go on, you
5:03
got him. You You can get this done, you
5:05
know." And um
5:07
I was probably under there 25 minutes
5:09
before I ever
5:10
>> Which I'm sure felt like a week.
5:12
>> Oh, I thought I didn't think I'd get
5:13
out.
5:15
But, I had to go to every corner cuz it
5:17
I'd searched the middle, and then you'd
5:18
go to the corners, you know.
5:20
>> So, this wasn't like an easy find.
5:22
>> No, it ain't
5:22
>> Well, so this was not like a one-off.
5:24
>> Oh,
5:25
>> Like Randy was
5:26
>> Randy He was putting me out there for
5:28
bait.
5:29
>> Did Randy take a commission off of it?
5:31
>> he might have.
5:32
>> He
5:32
skimmed off the top a little.
5:34
>> He might have got like $12, you know,
5:36
and I'm just getting 10.
5:38
>> But, uh when things go under a house
5:40
sometime, like if something's hurt, a
5:42
dog got hurt in the dog fight, you know,
5:44
or a cat got hurt. But, this smell This
5:47
was smell was something different. It's
5:48
like
5:50
And I don't come to I'm trying to gross
5:51
people out, but it would it would creep
5:54
up in your nose and stay. Just a a
5:57
putrid gagging smell.
5:59
>> Okay, there's only one thing that I know
6:00
that can really do that that I've
6:02
experienced. Was it a skunk?
6:04
>> It wasn't a skunk.
6:05
>> Oh, okay.
6:07
>> As I get closer cuz things when they go
6:09
under there if something's hurt and
6:11
they're looking for a place to die, they
6:12
want a tight spot. They want to act like
6:15
they're hidden. Where's that at? In the
6:17
lowest place.
6:18
>> Right.
6:19
>> But also in a corner most of the time.
6:21
As you got back to the southwest corner
6:23
of this house, dirt had settled under
6:25
there at one time. So now my back is
6:28
rubbing them joists as I'm going through
6:30
there and I'm thinking I'll get stuck in
6:32
here.
6:33
Randy ain't little enough to crawl under
6:35
there. I'm sure God ain't going to get
6:36
in there. So it's just me.
6:39
And I just kept shining that flashlight
6:40
around and I could see a little bit of
6:43
white hair.
6:45
>> Possum?
6:46
>> Possum.
6:46
>> Oh.
6:48
>> Now this possum had probably been in
6:50
there
6:52
long enough that
6:54
decay is happening, okay?
6:57
And I can remember
6:59
later on as I did these jobs, when I
7:01
would find this, I would take Vicks or
7:03
Mentholatum and rub all in my nose.
7:06
>> Oh my word.
7:07
>> So I wouldn't have to get
7:08
>> So you then created a full-on animal
7:10
removal service.
7:11
>> Oh, I was good.
7:12
>> You were an entrepreneur at the age of
7:14
10.
7:15
>> I don't really know what that word is,
7:17
but I could go in and get a dead animal.
7:19
Sometimes getting
7:20
>> That was your tagline.
7:21
>> Sometimes getting a dead animal out is a
7:23
whole lot easier than getting a live one
7:24
out there.
7:24
>> Oh, absolutely.
7:26
>> Yeah. Well, and then you and you your
7:28
family, your brothers, your dad, you
7:31
also all worked for the local sale barn,
7:33
too. And so that took taught you a lot
7:37
of um
7:38
grit, determination, work ethic.
7:40
>> Yeah, and it taught me that some things
7:42
that you step in that are green are not
7:43
money.
7:45
They're something else.
7:46
>> And they all smell, too.
7:47
>> Yeah, and what we're talking about
7:49
auction. It's a livestock auction.
7:51
That's what people understand. But my
7:53
dad had worked down there. My oldest
7:54
brother worked there. My other brother
7:56
worked there. I worked there and the
7:58
grandkids worked there and sons worked
7:59
there. It's been going on forever.
8:01
>> Yeah.
8:02
>> But
8:03
it's probably one of the If it ever
8:04
rained or snowed, it's probably one of
8:06
the nastier jobs that you could have.
8:08
And I remember
8:10
that one of the few times that I thought
8:12
I was really
8:15
uh
8:16
winter sport minded
8:18
would we would do cow skiing.
8:20
>> What is cow skiing?
8:21
>> Well, when it's muddy, sloppy, you know,
8:24
and them alleys is concrete under there
8:26
so far, but then you have let's just say
8:29
5 in water,
8:31
4 in manure, and then 4 more in whatever
8:34
might have floated in there.
8:36
And when them cows come running by, you
8:38
just grab one by the tail, hold your
8:40
feet out,
8:41
>> go skiing?
8:42
>> ski down the alley. I will tell you
8:44
this,
8:45
don't open your mouth
8:47
>> Okay.
8:47
>> and wear some goggles.
8:48
>> Well, I'm telling you if break dancing
8:50
can be an Olympic sport, I think the cow
8:52
skiing definitely should be up there.
8:54
>> You know, that you
8:55
I think cow skiing is really good. It's
8:57
probably one of the
8:58
>> It's character building, right?
8:59
>> Yeah, and in the snow it was really
9:00
good. In the slop, not so much.
9:02
>> There's two stories you've had that
9:04
you've told me that I find incredibly
9:06
interesting. As as we mentioned at the
9:08
top of the show,
9:10
two jobs that nearly killed you. And I'm
9:13
not joking here, guys, when I say
9:15
you had two near-death experiences.
9:18
Let's take a trip over to
9:21
Stillwater, Oklahoma.
9:22
>> Yes, Oklahoma State University.
9:24
>> And you are a cowboy going to college.
9:27
>> Yeah.
9:27
>> So what were you studying?
9:29
>> Animal science.
9:30
>> Perfect fit.
9:31
>> From all your work in the ducks.
9:35
>> Yeah, it made a big difference it did.
9:37
>> But what was your job there? Cuz you
9:39
weren't just going to school, you had to
9:40
work as well, right?
9:41
>> Oh, I'm going to tell you right now,
9:42
folks, and there's probably people
9:43
listening on here that have a dairy
9:46
dairy is never closed. It is open 365
9:49
days a year.
9:49
>> Yeah.
9:50
>> And you babysit it.
9:51
And um
9:53
we were milking about 270 head twice a
9:56
day. Not by hand. The milking machines,
9:58
you had everything. Tank that held the
10:01
milk. All the milk went to the college
10:04
and all that.
10:04
>> many How many cows are you running at a
10:06
time there that
10:07
>> We just had a a parlor, what they called
10:09
a parlor. We we could just milk six at a
10:11
time.
10:12
>> Oh, okay.
10:12
>> take long. You hooked everything up, you
10:14
know. They wouldn't One come in
10:17
>> I'm sure it was down to a system.
10:19
>> Hooked the milkers up, you know, but you
10:21
were standing in what we called a pit,
10:22
too, because I'm going to try to say
10:24
this nice, cow udders
10:26
>> Uh-huh.
10:27
>> was eye level.
10:28
>> Okay.
10:28
>> Okay? Because they're up
10:30
>> to see what you're working with.
10:31
>> Yes. And they would come in.
10:33
>> Uh-huh.
10:34
>> So, I would what was called a prep
10:35
station. And it was a automatic washer,
10:38
which would wash their udder.
10:40
>> Oh.
10:40
>> Clean it.
10:41
>> Okay.
10:42
>> Come in there, you disinfect it, dry it
10:44
off, hook up the milkers. When you
10:46
They were like in a little ball. Had
10:49
four little deals. And when you pick
10:51
them up, suction would come on.
10:53
Hook them on there, you get milk. You
10:55
just milk so long cuz if you over milk,
10:57
then you get a thing called mastitis,
10:58
which is in there, and it's really bad.
11:01
So, I'd learned milking machines, I mean
11:06
I was good.
11:07
>> Things were going good.
11:07
>> I mean, yeah, I'm only really drawback
11:09
about it, you stunk, you were nasty, and
11:12
you never drank milk again.
11:15
And it was early. We started at 2:30
11:17
every morning.
11:18
>> Oh my gosh, and you were doing school.
11:20
>> Yeah. And we'd go back to milk at 4:00
11:22
again and milk milk till about 8:30,
11:23
9:00.
11:24
>> Oh my gosh.
11:25
>> It was very early. But we were getting
11:28
minimum wage at the time, and we
11:29
considered part-time help. It's getting
11:31
$2.65 an hour and you got paid every 2
11:34
weeks.
11:35
I remember December January of the first
11:38
year
11:39
uh December got really cold in northern
11:42
Oklahoma and you've been in Oklahoma.
11:43
The wind blows something awful.
11:45
And the herdsman had called us from his
11:48
house. He's in the warm, okay?
11:51
And he said, "Bad blizzard coming.
11:53
Blizzard warnings have been issued for
11:55
the northern half of Oklahoma. Record
11:57
snowfall
11:59
uh 8-ft to 12-ft drifts
12:02
uh wind chills -20 to -30."
12:05
Now, this is a sort of a flat
12:08
dairy ranch, if you want to call it
12:10
that, that all these cattle are in.
12:12
There's really not a lot of windbreaks
12:13
till you get up closer
12:14
>> And they're not in barns. They're out.
12:16
Yeah, okay.
12:17
>> Cuz you'd have to go gather them every
12:18
morning. We'd find them coming up, but
12:20
you'd have to get stragglers.
12:21
>> Right.
12:22
>> So, I told them guys on It happened on a
12:24
Sunday.
12:25
Told them that morning after we got
12:26
through milking, I said, "It's supposed
12:27
to get really bad. I said, "We're going
12:29
to let them cows go for a while. We'll
12:31
bring them all back up here. We can put
12:33
them up here close to these barns. They
12:34
got to have a windbreak because
12:37
you're not talking just cold. Freeze
12:39
ears,
12:40
but then you lose udders. You freeze
12:42
different quarters.
12:43
>> Right.
12:43
>> frostbite cuz you just they're sitting
12:45
in the snow.
12:47
So, I told them I said, "We'll get
12:49
through milking. Everything stays up
12:51
here today."
12:52
And uh
12:53
there was no horses there. I felt that
12:56
really strange, you know.
12:58
Been a cowboy and I'm out here on a
13:00
little tractor trying to gather these
13:02
cows. No cab, no nothing, you know.
13:05
>> Oh, it's an open cab?
13:06
>> Yeah, and it's I mean, it's cold.
13:07
>> And what time is this morning?
13:09
>> It's like
13:10
1:00 in the afternoon.
13:11
>> Okay.
13:12
>> And it's
13:13
uh I remember McComas telling me uh
13:15
right before we went out, he said, "It's
13:17
my -1 in the wind chill, -24."
13:20
>> Mhm.
13:21
>> And the snow was just coming this way.
13:23
>> Just straight.
13:24
>> And there was a long alley that come to
13:26
the barn to where these cows were to get
13:28
milked.
13:30
And there was just one cow. Everybody
13:32
had a neck chain. Okay, had a number on
13:34
it.
13:34
>> Oh.
13:35
>> I remember this cow for two reasons. One
13:37
is she nearly caused me to die.
13:39
And the other one was my favorite hymn
13:41
in the Baptist Hymnal was page 348.
13:44
>> Whoa, and she was 348?
13:46
>> Her number was 348.
13:48
>> Do you remember what that
13:49
>> song was?
13:50
>> The hymn or the
13:51
>> Yeah, how great thou art.
13:52
>> Oh.
13:53
>> There was these long concrete water
13:54
troughs sitting out there.
13:56
And I was She's just staying up on that
13:58
concrete going around and around.
14:00
And I was going around and around in a
14:02
little trekker. We weren't getting
14:03
anywhere.
14:04
Just going around and around and around.
14:05
Getting colder, getting dizzy, you know.
14:07
And I get off her foot and I'm thinking,
14:09
got to get to goofy old sow to go down
14:11
the alley so we can get her up there to
14:13
barn.
14:14
And I remember when you breathe in so
14:16
much cold air and you're winded that
14:18
much,
14:19
>> Yeah.
14:19
>> you're having the risk really to of not
14:21
only just hypothermia, but you're you're
14:23
freezing some of your lung tissue, you
14:25
know. Um
14:27
So, I chased her around there for a long
14:29
time. Finally got her out there in that
14:30
alley and when you go down this long
14:32
alley, which is about 200 yards, there's
14:34
two waterways.
14:36
That way when it was really wet in the
14:38
year, water would drain out these pens.
14:40
>> Okay.
14:41
>> Well, that snow had drifted in there.
14:43
That snow is like this.
14:44
>> So, you're you're at snow that's like
14:47
chest deep or the snow drifts?
14:49
>> As I come around the corner of that pen,
14:52
the last thing I remember is
14:54
Hang on. I don't know where.
14:56
>> Cuz you had nearly like froze like
14:59
esophagus and lungs?
15:01
>> and passed out in the snow.
15:05
Now, don't know how long I was there,
15:07
but I do remember
15:09
when I sort of I could hear cows
15:11
bawling.
15:13
And the wind had quit.
15:14
>> Oh my gosh.
15:15
>> But I couldn't see cuz it froze
15:18
hair on my eyes.
15:19
>> And you're the only one out there?
15:20
>> Yeah.
15:21
And I remember thinking, just go to the
15:23
fence, get a hold, crawl down the fence,
15:26
hang on to the wires.
15:28
You'll make it to the barn. Get to the
15:29
first waterway where the deep snow was
15:31
cuz we'd pushed all this other snow off
15:33
from the other day.
15:34
And I get out in there and I can't
15:36
>> So, you've crawled your way, you can't
15:37
see, and you followed the fence line is
15:40
how you got back to the barn.
15:41
>> to it. And I thought
15:43
one that'll them cows come back. I could
15:45
hear neck chains rattle. Wind had quit.
15:48
But you know how it is in them storms
15:50
and it just
15:51
it's over.
15:51
>> Yeah.
15:52
>> And the wind had plum got I could hear
15:53
neck chains rattling.
15:54
And I'm thinking them cows'll come back.
15:57
Grab one of them by the tail and she
15:59
dragged me to the barn. And then I'm
16:01
thinking, you're kidding. That could be
16:02
stupid cuz she could drag me to the
16:04
pasture, you know.
16:05
>> Oh,
16:06
>> So,
16:06
I just remember thinking, it's probably
16:08
time just to give up.
16:10
>> Really?
16:10
>> Yeah, cuz I
16:12
And the doctor told me this later,
16:13
freezing to death is really not a hard
16:16
way to go.
16:17
>> Really?
16:17
>> Because you just
16:19
you just go off to sleep.
16:21
You know, your body shuts down.
16:23
>> Looking back, did you have a moment
16:25
where you felt like this is
16:27
>> Well, I thought that was it right there.
16:29
>> Did you feel a peace?
16:31
>> I was really afraid for a long time and
16:34
then I just remember thinking,
16:37
I'm just so sleepy and tired.
16:39
>> Wow.
16:39
>> I'm just going to take a nap.
16:41
The next thing I know, I remember
16:43
hearing this voice and it was McComas,
16:45
dear friend of mine.
16:48
And he
16:49
he was hollering for help.
16:51
And LG come out there and Clifford
16:53
and they got me and they took me in
16:54
there to the office.
16:57
And it had froze inside of my nose, so
17:01
you know.
17:02
My gloves were I pulled on that wire
17:05
trying to get there packed full of snow.
17:08
And I was getting them off.
17:10
McComas had
17:11
called
17:13
Campus Hospital.
17:14
It's not 911 there. You just have to
17:16
look through the book, find the number,
17:18
call.
17:19
And they old station wagon ambulances.
17:22
>> Yeah.
17:23
>> They come in there and they put me on
17:24
this gurney.
17:25
Hold me to the hospital.
17:27
And uh
17:28
I remember laying there on that bed
17:30
freezing just
17:31
sitting there violently shaking.
17:33
>> Yeah.
17:34
>> And there's people out there I know that
17:35
are watching that are welders that have
17:37
burnt their eyes, you know, from flash.
17:39
That's the way my eyes felt. You know,
17:40
they were just like really from snow
17:42
burn.
17:43
>> Yeah. And the wind, yeah.
17:44
>> Yeah.
17:45
And uh
17:46
I remember that
17:48
this paramedic guy, whatever he was,
17:50
come in there
17:51
and he was
17:53
had a pair of scissors and he started
17:55
cutting down the sides of my boots.
17:57
And I'm thinking
17:59
we could take them off, you
18:00
>> Were these new boots?
18:01
>> Well, they weren't new, but they cost
18:02
$120. I don't have a lot of money.
18:04
>> Yeah.
18:05
>> And I finally told him, I said, "We can
18:06
take them off." Next thing I know is you
18:08
ain't got no clothes on and you're
18:10
laying on this little gurney and you got
18:11
a sheet.
18:13
And I'm thinking
18:14
you know, it'd be nice to have electric
18:16
blanket. Far.
18:18
And that doctor come in there finally
18:20
and he told me, he said
18:22
"You burnt your eyes. You have frostbite
18:24
on your ears.
18:26
You have frostbite really bad on your
18:28
left hand."
18:29
Which that finger in particular. He
18:31
said, "We need to try to thaw some of
18:32
this out."
18:34
And uh I remember he he said, "Let me
18:36
have your hand." Stuck it in this little
18:38
And I just jerked it out.
18:39
>> He stuck it in in some water?
18:41
>> And I said, "God, that's hot water." He
18:43
said, "Put your other hand in there."
18:44
And he's cold.
18:45
>> Wow.
18:46
>> He said, "Your core temperature when you
18:47
got here was 95."
18:51
He said
18:52
"You was about 30 seconds from not ever
18:54
being here no more."
18:56
And I I can
18:58
I just remember him telling me that and
18:59
I got to thinking
19:01
I didn't get to tell my mama I loved
19:02
her.
19:03
>> Mhm.
19:04
>> I didn't get to say goodbye.
19:07
There's a lot of things that were left
19:08
undone that I think really needed doing.
19:11
And
19:12
now you know this and every day
19:15
I let you know how much I love you.
19:19
Don't take that for granted.
19:20
I mean this
19:22
says there in the good book, God says no
19:24
man shall know the day of the time or
19:26
the hour.
19:28
I'm hoping it's not tomorrow for none of
19:29
us. I really don't. But
19:32
don't put nothing off.
19:34
Make the best you got with every
19:36
situation.
19:37
And when if something happens in to you
19:40
that
19:42
it makes you think dying was close
19:45
you begin to really enjoy living more
19:47
than you ever have in your life.
19:49
And from that day forward
19:52
I knew every day was a holiday.
19:54
Cuz I had one more chance.
19:56
And if you don't take advantage of them
19:58
chances you lost out.
20:01
>> How great thou art.
20:02
>> How great thou art, 3:48. I I don't mean
20:05
this bad, but if I'd had a gun I'd have
20:07
shot that old coyote that day.
20:10
But what a coincidence between the neck
20:12
tag chain and the hymn book.
20:14
>> There there's little messages
20:16
>> Oh yes.
20:16
>> and blessings everywhere every day for
20:18
sure.
20:20
Um and I hate to say this, but that
20:22
wasn't the first time that you That was
20:24
the first time, but not the last time.
20:26
Oh yeah, that wasn't the the last time
20:28
that a job nearly ended everything,
20:32
right?
20:33
>> No, this one was whole lot more scary
20:35
though.
20:35
>> We're going to Oh, it was?
20:36
>> Yeah.
20:37
>> Oh, okay. So, let's fast forward again.
20:40
And you have left Oklahoma State
20:42
University. You've moved back home to
20:44
Hollis, Oklahoma, southwest corner of
20:46
the state.
20:47
And I mean I think in between obviously
20:50
you were doing other things, but then
20:51
you got a job with the county, which I'm
20:54
sure was a good job. You get a steady
20:58
paycheck. You've got health insurance.
21:00
Things are good. And what are you doing
21:02
for them?
21:03
>> Well I knew how to drive a grader, dump
21:07
truck, front end loader, everything.
21:10
And that day
21:12
we would have this fellow call the
21:14
county commissioner and he said
21:16
"Say, there's a big old gypsite." And
21:18
for people that don't know what that is,
21:20
that is when there just becomes a big
21:22
cavity and a hole just falls in, you
21:24
know. Our country was full of them cuz
21:26
you have a lot of rock or gypsum,
21:29
which creates a stack formation, which
21:31
is really not real good and steady and
21:33
you have a lot of cracks
21:35
>> crevices, you know.
21:36
So, we asked him where it's at and he
21:38
told us.
21:39
And uh
21:40
so me and money, a dear friend of mine,
21:42
we went up there to check it out first.
21:43
And like the road is is here
21:46
where you're at, the gypsite is
21:49
60 yd over there, close to this pasture,
21:51
you know.
21:52
>> Okay.
21:53
>> But it's creeping up towards
21:55
>> So you can see it.
21:56
>> Oh yeah, it's creeping up towards bar
21:57
ditch, you know.
21:59
And we want to get it filled up before
22:00
it gets in the road and somebody runs
22:02
off in it, you know. So, we could we
22:04
begin
22:06
about a 4-mi haul just hauling dirt, the
22:08
six of us, hauling dirt, put it in the
22:10
hole.
22:11
>> So you're driving a dump truck a dump
22:13
truck. Okay, and he's got the front end
22:15
loader?
22:15
>> Yeah, but we'd leave it parked till we
22:16
get a bunch of dirt. We had road closed
22:18
on both ends. We was going to dump a
22:19
bunch in the middle and then push it in
22:22
there with a front end loader. That way
22:23
you could be careful, you know, cuz who
22:25
who knows how far it comes under, you
22:27
know.
22:28
>> So, I'm first one there and uh me and
22:30
money had looked all the way around that
22:32
deal and I got them thinking I'm going
22:33
to stay about
22:34
25 yd from this hole, you know.
22:37
>> plenty.
22:37
>> Yeah, backed that truck up there.
22:40
Walked around there, everything was good
22:42
as gold.
22:43
And uh
22:44
we have a latch which has a chain on it,
22:46
which is a safety latch, which is not
22:48
going to let the pin come open on the
22:49
dump door till you take that off.
22:51
>> Okay.
22:52
>> Took the chain off
22:54
and I was standing there beside that
22:55
truck just fixing to pull it and then
22:57
get back in the truck, pull the
22:59
hydraulics to dump the dirt.
23:00
>> Okay.
23:01
>> And when I grabbed hold of that and
23:03
pulled it, I'm thinking
23:05
something don't feel right.
23:07
And this happened
23:09
it felt like it took forever.
23:11
But the best way I can describe it, it
23:13
was like you pulled the stopper
23:16
out of the biggest bathtub drain you've
23:18
ever seen in your life. And everything I
23:20
could see it from the outside edges,
23:24
I could see it in front of me, I could
23:25
see it under me. Things were just like a
23:27
funnel just going down.
23:29
>> And the earth was just sucking behind
23:32
underneath you.
23:32
>> Yeah.
23:33
And I'm thinking
23:35
jump to that fence post, which
23:37
>> Which is how far?
23:38
>> 10 ft.
23:40
So
23:41
>> But you have no traction, right?
23:44
>> I'm
23:45
>> You're I mean you're literally sinking.
23:46
>> It's You can feel it coming to you. You
23:49
know, it's just breaking off.
23:50
>> And the dump truck you're standing right
23:52
next to the dump truck.
23:53
>> And I go to jump
23:54
and it the ground gives before I get
23:57
pressure.
23:58
And when I jump I don't go nowhere
24:01
because I'm going straight down. Now the
24:02
truck is falling in.
24:05
>> And you're just
24:06
>> just God's blessing that when I fell
24:09
my head hit the wheel
24:11
and bounced me back a little or I'd have
24:13
been under the truck.
24:15
But I can remember and it
24:18
felt like an hour,
24:19
but it probably wasn't no more than 10
24:21
seconds, 20 seconds.
24:23
>> Just the going down.
24:24
>> Yeah.
24:25
>> And I can remember when I thought we're
24:27
not going down no more,
24:29
it's over.
24:31
I thought
24:33
I'm covered up cuz all the dirt had
24:34
covered me.
24:35
>> So you were buried?
24:36
>> Yeah.
24:37
>> Completely.
24:38
>> And I I remember saying these words, I
24:41
guess this is it, God.
24:43
Please tell my children I love them.
24:46
And
24:48
then there was a moment in me that just
24:50
give up. I said
24:53
just let it go. It's going to be Be
24:55
you know.
24:56
They say your life flashes before your
24:58
eyes.
24:59
>> Mhm.
25:00
I saw some things.
25:02
>> Did you really?
25:03
>> Not all of it, but I saw some things. I
25:05
saw my dad before he had cancer.
25:09
I saw my uncles.
25:12
I saw people horseback that were gone.
25:15
But then I remembered
25:17
and that's what I guess it's really
25:18
panic sets in then, you know, and it's
25:20
fight or flight and I'm thinking you got
25:23
to get the hell out of here now.
25:25
I'm thinking I can't.
25:27
And then I remember I can move a foot
25:29
cuz I'm in there upside down.
25:31
And I remember
25:32
this foot I can move this foot.
25:34
There's hope.
25:36
Because it it's not like packed dirt's
25:38
falling on you. Sure there's a lot of
25:39
it, but when you can wiggle your foot
25:41
and you're figuring you're upside down,
25:43
keep wiggling because that foot is free.
25:47
And I I just remember thinking dig for
25:50
all you got and I can remember the taste
25:53
of dirt in my mouth.
25:54
>> Did you have air?
25:56
>> Not at that time.
25:57
>> Oh my gosh, so you're suffocating.
25:59
>> I keep clawing and scratching.
26:02
>> But you're upside down so you're just
26:04
trying to dig upside down.
26:05
>> Yeah, and I'm pushing.
26:06
>> Yeah.
26:07
>> But when I keep moving this foot because
26:09
I can't move this leg, I figure my back
26:11
is broke or my hip is broke or
26:13
something.
26:13
>> any pain at this point?
26:15
>> No, just mostly fear.
26:16
>> fear, yeah.
26:17
>> As I keep moving my leg and I finally
26:18
get rolled around to where I'm thinking
26:20
I'm sort of laying in this direction and
26:22
I just keep clawing and clawing.
26:24
And that's the first time that I seen
26:26
light. Just a little just light just
26:29
come in it was like an angel of God
26:31
shined it down there on me and I could
26:33
feel that light and I'm thinking you can
26:35
live
26:36
but you got to try. You can't give up.
26:38
And I just kept scratching.
26:40
When I finally got out I just remember
26:42
feeling like somebody just packed me
26:43
full of dirt, you know, just stuffed it
26:45
in me.
26:46
And I just remember trying to get air
26:48
and I was choked not really choking
26:49
because there wasn't enough air and this
26:51
might not have been 30 seconds.
26:53
>> The whole
26:55
like when you
26:56
>> fell I don't know how long it was.
26:57
>> Yeah.
26:58
>> Uh
26:59
but I just remember being full of dirt
27:00
trying to cough that stuff up.
27:02
And I looked
27:04
and there was a mesquite tree root
27:06
sticking out from the dirt about 5 ft
27:08
below the pavement level. And I'm
27:10
thinking you got to get to that cuz
27:13
things are still settling. Truck is
27:14
still running.
27:16
>> Oh yeah.
27:16
>> Upside down
27:17
and it's just settling going down.
27:19
>> And you're still the only one out there?
27:21
>> Yeah. Finally get up there to that
27:22
mesquite limb. And I take a arm and just
27:25
wrap it around there and just sit there
27:27
cuz somebody's going to be here, you
27:29
know.
27:31
And Money was the first one that showed
27:33
up. I never been
27:34
>> He's probably thinking like what did you
27:35
get into?
27:36
>> been so glad to see another cuz he had
27:38
cowboy, too.
27:39
>> Yeah.
27:39
>> To see somebody in my life. And he said,
27:42
"Let me call help." I said, "The hell
27:44
with help. Just throw a rope down here.
27:45
Get me out of here, Money. Do whatever
27:47
you got to do. I don't want to stay in
27:49
here no longer."
27:50
And he said, "Well, I don't want to hurt
27:52
you." And I said,
27:53
"I know you got a rope in that truck.
27:54
You get it down here and get me out of
27:56
here." And then I remember when he
27:57
pulled me out that I still couldn't feel
27:59
this leg, you know.
28:02
Hurt never took a hold
28:04
till probably 2 hours after that. It was
28:07
mostly just
28:08
>> Well, your fear at first and adrenaline
28:10
>> Yeah.
28:10
>> had kicked in. But then also just
28:14
thank you God for letting me out of that
28:15
hole, you know. They going to put me in
28:17
a hole one of these days, but that
28:19
wasn't the time.
28:20
>> Yeah.
28:20
>> I think the thing that it showed me more
28:22
than anything else is
28:25
you're
28:26
it might not ever happen to you.
28:28
You may not have
28:30
something that shocks your system enough
28:32
to know that you think
28:34
there's there's something else in life
28:37
that I'm missing. I hadn't turned my
28:38
back on God, but I'd been mad at God
28:41
because he took my father, you know.
28:43
And um
28:45
but I learned after that patience plus
28:48
again perseverance but mostly
28:51
you
28:52
when fear sets in so many people panic
28:56
and make the wrong decision.
28:59
Or you give up.
29:01
God put air in your lungs to you to
29:04
fight for every breath till it's your
29:05
last one. I don't care what you're going
29:07
through. You reach way down in there and
29:09
you get a hold of your heart and you
29:11
thank God you say, "Give me the strength
29:13
Lord cuz I ain't staying in this hole
29:14
forever."
29:16
>> So when you had that moment in both
29:18
instances, cuz you said both times you
29:21
had a moment where you thought this is
29:24
it, I'm giving up.
29:27
What was it that kicked you into
29:29
survival mode?
29:31
>> I think some of it was the way I was
29:32
raised.
29:34
From the old-timers, the grit and
29:36
determination that they always had cuz I
29:37
never seen one of them say, "Well, I'm
29:39
going to give up. I'm going to quit."
29:41
You know?
29:42
That's easiest way out of any situation
29:45
in life is to just look at it and say,
29:48
"Well, it's knocked me down three times.
29:49
I ain't getting back out there no more."
29:52
How do you ever know what you can
29:53
accomplish if you're all the time
29:54
backing up?
29:56
Sure, sometimes you got to back up to
29:58
get around something. There's a reverse.
30:01
But reverse ain't the only gear there.
30:03
Put that thing in granny low and I mean
30:05
put the pedal to the metal and run over
30:07
whatever you got to get it run over not
30:09
hurting nobody but to get out of that
30:10
problem.
30:12
Don't dig a hole.
30:14
It just gets deeper.
30:15
>> Can't I can't believe those those
30:18
stories some of them I didn't even know
30:21
but I think me for one of course, I
30:24
think all of our listeners are really
30:26
glad that you made it out alive of those
30:29
because
30:30
you're able to share your stories, your
30:32
wisdom and your faith that got you
30:35
through all those times.
30:36
>> Well,
30:37
I've been blessed more than I ever
30:39
deserved. I have.
30:41
And to have
30:42
first of all, you in my life
30:44
and then to be able to do what we want
30:46
to do every day
30:48
and to be able to share it with y'all
30:50
who we love is a blessing. So, good Lord
30:52
let me live through those for a reason.
30:55
>> So, what do you say to people who maybe
30:58
aren't in a dirty job or a
31:00
life-threatening job, but just maybe
31:02
feel a little stuck?
31:04
>> I've had a lot of jobs. You've had a lot
31:05
of jobs.
31:07
But, you climb the ladder to success.
31:10
And it all starts from the bottom rung.
31:13
How many of you ever climbed a ladder
31:15
and you started at the very top? Nobody.
31:18
But, I'll guarantee you some of them
31:19
rungs might break on the way that climb
31:21
you're climbing up or or you might slip
31:23
and fall.
31:24
But, you'll determine how far you go in
31:26
life is if you stay on the ground or if
31:28
you get up and you climb that ladder
31:29
again. And you get plumb to the top and
31:31
then you look down there and you say,
31:33
"Thank you, Jesus. I've done her again.
31:35
Thank you for helping me."
31:37
Don't give up on the ladder of life.
31:39
And don't just read the book
31:42
and turn the next page.
31:44
Turn all of them. Don't close the book
31:46
and say I ain't never going to more.
31:48
Because giving up
31:50
and fear
31:52
and then you have one thing that joins
31:53
you in every time and that's doubt.
31:56
And that will Ooh.
31:58
It'll get you bucked off every chance
32:00
you get.
32:00
>> You've taken us through a lot of a lot
32:02
of life lessons, a lot of
32:04
jobs, whether they be odd, dirty,
32:06
humorous.
32:07
>> Yeah, I
32:09
and y'all know y'all can email us and
32:10
you might watch us on YouTube. Some of
32:11
you might know me. I ain't going to your
32:13
house.
32:14
I ain't crawling under them. No dead
32:15
cats, no sharks.
32:17
>> offering your animal removal services
32:18
anymore?
32:19
>> Snails is pretty little. Maybe we can
32:20
get him to do that.
32:21
>> Yeah, if you're watching on YouTube,
32:22
we've got Major here and he really
32:25
enjoyed the story. He slept through the
32:26
whole thing. I hope y'all did. But,
32:28
actually that reminds me. So, I would
32:30
love to know, leave us a comment, what
32:33
is the oddest, dirtiest, most bizarre
32:35
job you've had? Because I know a lot of
32:38
you have some great stories. So,
32:39
comment.
32:40
>> Yeah, but
32:41
don't don't be afraid. Don't think this
32:44
you're at the end of it and you can't
32:45
get by,
32:47
you know,
32:48
uh uh
32:49
you just have to keep on.
32:51
We have faith in you. God has faith in
32:53
you. Your family does.
32:55
And and and Lee told me
32:59
He said, you know, I tried to get up the
33:00
ladder of life all my life and it didn't
33:02
have no steps on it.
33:05
I said, so you give up?
33:06
He said, no, I just throw the loop
33:07
around that tree up there and climbed up
33:09
there.
33:09
>> There you go. There's always another
33:10
way.
33:11
>> You got to find that way.
33:13
>> Thank you all so much for joining us.
33:14
Really enjoyed this episode because a
33:16
lot of these stories I I didn't know, so
33:18
I learned something, too. But, leave us
33:19
a comment. Leave us a review. Join us
33:22
every week, whether it's YouTube, Apple
33:24
Podcast, Spotify. We're everywhere you
33:28
go. So, take us along with you.
33:30
>> But, it is with pride, honor, and
33:31
privilege that I tip my hat to all our
33:33
servicemen and women and all the
33:34
veterans who have kept that old flag of
33:36
flying over there. We commend you each
33:38
and every one. And no matter if your
33:40
hands get dirty or if they're clean,
33:42
just remember, use them to help your
33:43
neighbor get up if you get a chance. God
33:45
bless you all.
33:55
>> Pioneer.
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