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Home > Pros and Cons of Being A Gate Guard

Pros and Cons of Being A Gate Guard

December 23rd, 2011 at 04:33 am

I have been working on this lease/gate since April of this year. There are pros and cons to doing this and this job is definitely not for everyone, especially if you work by yourself such as I do most of the time, as you can end up seeing very few people for days on end. You can get cabin fever very quickly when living in a 20 ft camper trailer! However, when there is activity such as now, (I currently have a drilling rig in) you can literally see hundreds of people a day. Most people that I see are very friendly and upbeat and it's amazing how generous they are. One day I had a man take out his lunch and give me a mango and an apple. I don't know if I just looked hungry or he just felt like sharing with me, I'm definitely not underweight by any means! I accepted and thanked him and he went on his merry way. I used to always turn down any gifts offered but now I accept because it really seems to make the gift giver feel good and everyone ends up happy in the end. I worked at one gate last year that the gauger brought me breakfast every single day until the job ended. He would not accept a penny ever no matter how much I insisted. Just today I recieved a donut for breakfast from the gauger, 10 pounds of oranges from the land owners cousin, a Sonic burger, tater tots and a medium drink, and a case of Dr. Pepper from the directional driller and two Reeses peanut butter cups from one of the rig hands. One of the guys had a blow out on his truck while going to town and asked if he could borrow my truck and ended up completely filling it with fuel after only driving it thirty miles or so. That means I don't have to fill up when I go to the grocery store now as I had planned. That was a savings of $50.00, I thought that was really nice and only expected that he would pay the actual gas that he used.

Another pro, which can also at times, can be a con, is that if you work alone as I do, is that you must be at the gate 24/7 so it's possible to have many no spend days a month. Any money I spend has to be done on planned days when I can get a certified security guard to sit at the gate while I'm away. I must get everything I need in that shopping trip and pay my bills on those days. Internet is hit and miss out here in the boonies and I've never been able to pay bills online while here. Usually I have two money spending days a month, I go grocery shopping one day every two weeks or so. Every now and then I will spend a few dollars when I ask someone to bring me a soda or newspaper from town but that's pretty rare. Usually even if I do they refuse the money.
Some other pros would be that the company that I'm contracted through provides a generator and water so I never have an electric or water bill and pay no lot rent.

Some of the cons would be spending alot of time alone, being in a fairly dangerous job, (many drug runners and illegals come across these ranches) getting stuck out here with no help for days on end as is the situation I'm in now. It's been raining and the roads are really bad so my help has not been able to make it out. I've not been grocery shopping in about a month and not been to the laundry in about that long as well. I had to wash a few clothes in the bath tub and it took three days for them to dry. I had clothes hanging everywhere in this small trailer. Hopefully my help will be able to get in tomorrow and I will get to town and get my errands and laundry done.

All in all I would say there are more pros than cons but I guess it really is all in the way a person looks at it. Alot of retirees do this during the winter months and seem to enjoy it and there are people my age that enjoy it also. I wouldn't trade this job for another job in retail for anything!

10 Responses to “Pros and Cons of Being A Gate Guard”

  1. mamasita Says:
    1324645401

    Wow, I've never heard of this job before. Yet another way of life in this great, big country! Nice to meet you!

  2. HouseHopeful Says:
    1324646438

    Wow - I have to say its really interesting to hear about your day to day life in such a unique position!

  3. CB in the City Says:
    1324649320

    Very interesting. We all have different challenges and bonuses in our lives, don't we?

  4. rob62521 Says:
    1324655113

    I enjoyed reading about your job...learned something new today!

  5. EarlyRetirementJoy Says:
    1324659201

    Amazing share - thank you for letting us peek into your life. I can see how your lifestyle can afford you with moments of both tranquility and challenge.

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1324706385

    Thanks for explaining more about your job! It was very interesting. Do you keep extra supplies on hand for times when your relief doesn't get there in a timely manner?

  7. CCraw Says:
    1324729070

    Yes, I do FrugalTexan, I was actually surprised at how much food I have packed into this little trailer, even though I hadn't grocery shopped in over a month I could have made it another couple of weeks. It wouldn't have been the greatest of meals, I usually have a couple of dozen eggs and some cans of tuna and chicken salad, rice and egg noodles. I could have made do. Toilet tissue etc I buy in the largest packages anyway and really it lasts forever for me. I don't really use alot of anything.

  8. DeniseNTexas Says:
    1325645265

    Wow, I really enjoyed reading your pros and cons. I think I'd like a job like that. I'm something of an introverted loner and although I like my job most of the time, I really just have so many days when I don't want to deal with the public. I LIKE being alone!

  9. jewella Says:
    1358401943

    also I enjoyed reading your entries!

  10. Daniel Holyman Says:
    1551435414

    There is good list of the benefits and disadvantages of the gate guard for the men. The difference of the duty is prescribed for the use of the this website for all such obligations. The gate guard is entrust for the flow of the parts for the citizens for this obligation.

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