He told me he spent most of his life in California, before moving to Texas about a year ago. He told me he voted for Hilary Clinton. Then I asked if he had any concerns following the election.

“At the end of the day, it went the way it went. The cards are already laid out. But I do understand why some people feel the way they do.

“In life we all have to deal with others who have different views. I have a lot of different viewpoints myself. Being in the South for me is kind of scary. I mean, you stay cognizant of certain things. But I’m not going to walk around living in fear. I’m going to stay geared on what I have to do. I’m going to focus on working hard to help keep our household running. That’s my main thing.

“Plus, I do think there are some things to look forward to in my line of work. I think there’s going to be more money coming into refining, the oil and gas industry. I’m a pipefitter, so I think it’s going to open up a lot more jobs for me. All the work is coming. The day after the election I was already hearing of companies giving $3 (an hour) raises. I guess they’re celebrating, so I should be happy, too, maybe.”

— Larry Austin, 38

Related:

• His great aunt fought segregation in the South

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“I’m senior vice president for Prince Energy in Houston. We make chemicals for the oil and gas industry to help in their drilling.”

How’s business?
“Terrible. It’s really in the crapper big time, and I feel real sorry for everybody who has lost their job. Our company is holding its own, but it’s pretty tight. Most people are saying recovery is not going to be here until 2017. So we’ve got another tough year ahead, at least.

“I think the Saudis shot themselves in the foot by unleashing all the oil on the market. I think it’s going to come back to haunt them because that’s their only source of revenue, basically, and they’ve got multi-million dollar projects they have to support. So maybe that will lighten up on the supply, because it is a supply and demand situation right now.”

— Harvey Oyler

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• Partners in Education has a friend in Kiwanis
• His secret to a long, successful marriage

The post Oil and gas tailspin leads to loss of jobs appeared first on The Baytown Project.