Who had a parent or spouse that worked(s) in a factory? Have you worked in a factory?

[unsinkable]

Who had a parent that worked(s) in a factory?
Not as a supervisor or owner or engineer...just an ordinary worker.

[Mrs Mungo]

My dad worked in a warehouse, but not a factory.

 

My dh worked in a  small machine shop (they made fishing lures) when we were in college, does that count? The company's manufacturing has moved to China thanks to help from WalMart.

[Onceuponatime]

My mother worked in a shoe factory in the early 60's.

[73349]

Stepfather.

Edited January 25, 2022 by Carolina Wren

[Laura Corin]

My mother worked in an aeroplane factory at Filton, Bristol, UK, during WWII.

 

L

[unsinkable]

Added spouse and self to poll and changed the did/does...cuz if you look at that too quickly... the slash looks like an L. Yikes!

Edited because I added nothing to the pole. Duh.

[Cinder]

My mom worked in a pineapple cannery as a teen. That was just a few years though. I'm kind of surprised that she still likes pineapple.

[unsinkable]

My dad worked in a windshield wiper factory.

[Carrie12345]

None of the listed people, but my stepsister currently does.

[meena]

After my parents divorced, my mom worked for many years in a factory that makes styrofoam products. She met my stepdad there; he worked there for a long time as well but now works in a brick factory. I grew up spending time at the factory with my mom (it was a small company and there were areas of work that were not dangerous for a child to be around) and worked in the same factory for a summer in high school. That job helped me truly appreciate how hard my parents worked to make ends meet. It also motivated me to do well in college and make a different path for my life.

My bio dad worked in a factory as well. His job was not as physically demanding as my mom's. He worked at the same company from high school graduation through retirement. The area where I grew up didn't have a lot of employment opportunities, especially for people with no higher education or technical skills.

[Melissa in Australia]

other -not sure

 

 

DH worked as a toolmaker in a very large factory for quite a few years. And worked in a smaller factory as a toolmaker for a short time

[Mona100]

My mom worked in a coffee packaging place. I guess you would call it a factory? Anyways, during one of her many layoffs she volunteered at a hospital and decided to become a nurse. By the time the coffee plant called her back to work she was in school to be an RN.

[TracyP]

I had several factory jobs when I was a late teen.

[AmyontheFarm]

My dad worked at a Chrysler Mini Van plant.  I grew up thinking that I was never going to marry someone who worked shift work.  I felt like I had a part time dad.  My husband is a farmer, now I wish he only worked for a specific amount of hours per day!

[Erica in OR]

My sister did after she graduated from high school. Eventually she ended up having shoulder surgery and could not continue the physical work; she moved into customer service at the same company and rose fairly high in her position.

 

Erica in OR

[Word Nerd]

When I first moved to the town where I used to live, I registered with a temp agency. I spent one day on an assembly line making music stands and another day at a factory that printed phone books (I was too short and not strong enough to do the line job they assigned me). Both experiences were physically draining and mind-numbingly dull, but they both gave me an appreciation for the people who do that kind of work every day. Neither of my parents worked in a factory, at least not that I know of.  I voted Nope because I don't think my short time as a temp counts.

[marbel]

My Dad worked in a chemical factory for over 50 years.  Well, the last 20 he was a plant superintendent but the first 30 or so he was in the factory.

[Tap]

None of us in a factory, but dh worked in a lumber mill from the age of 16-18 or so. He cleaned the kilns used to dry wood.  Kinda like a factory LOL , but with trees.

[jrn]

My dad worked in a magazine/paper factory his whole working life.  Dh worked in one while going to tech school.  I worked in a magazine factory the summer between high school and tech school.  I bought my first car with that money. :thumbup1:

[ashfern]

I voted other. My FIL worked in a factory until he retired. My DH worked there a couple of years during the summer in college.

[DawnM]

No one in my immediate family.  

[Jenny in Florida]

My husband did, briefly, when he was in his 20s. He worked assembling heat exchangers just long enough to injure himself. Now, 30 years later, we're still dealing with the effects of that injury.

[Kathryn]

DH did when we met.

[RebeccaS]

My dad worked on a line making locker doors.  In fact, my high school's lockers came from his plant.  :)

[6packofun]

Both of my parents did and I've worked in a warehouse, but that's not quite the same so I didn't put yes for myself.

[NoseInABook]

My dad did, my brother does, my stepfather does, my stepbrother does... a huge chunk of people I know work in or have worked in factories.

[Cosmos]

I worked in a metal finishing plant for one summer after graduating college and before starting graduate school. I loved it. It was a refreshing change of pace from anything I had ever done before. I rode my bike to work every day and ate my lunch on the banks of the Mississippi River. It was very repetitive work, but I didn't mind because my mind was free to do whatever I wanted. I worked out lots of math proofs in my head and then would spend evenings writing them up.

 

I don't know how I would feel if I had worked there for years, but for one summer, it was quite enjoyable.

[JonesinIndiana]

My father worked for "Generous Motors", as he called them. ;) He retired in 1991.

[magnificent_baby]

My Dad worked in a telephone equipment factory for almost 45 years. He retired early when the plant closed. Eventually all of the work was outsourced. We had a never ending supply of telephone cords at home. When my sisters were teens and on the phone non-stop, he would literally cut the cord in half. :laugh:  

[Lady Florida.]

My mother worked in a bra factory in the 1940's. So did one of her sisters and their mother (my grandmother).

[kiwik]

I gutted fish in a fish factory and worked in the labs of a couple of others.

[Mergath]

My dh works for a company (I guess it would be a factory?) that makes extruded aluminum products.  He's a supervisor now, but he started out as a regular saw operator.  My dad spent most of his adult life working in a paper mill (again, I'm not sure what does or doesn't count as a factory).  And my mom worked in a small factory for a few years when I was a teen.

[LucyStoner]

My parents both did factory work here and there on a temporary basis. On my birth certificate my father's occupation is listed as "machine operator in box factory" or something like that. I held a lot of random jobs from age 12 until I was in college. No factory work though I did work packing boxes and mailing them.

[8circles]

My dad worked in a factory when he first came to this country.

[Samiam]

DH works at BMW plant...I guess that's a factory. Been there almost three years, and even with a college degree, it's the best paying, best benefits, best retirement job he's ever had. Plan is that he will work there until he retires....of course moving up to management at some point (only those with a degree can go into management).

[CyndiLJ]

My mom spent 40 years working in two different electronics assembly plants, and only retired when she was laid off with several others as work was outsourced.  She loved that job, making DC power supplies, soldering, etc.

 

For someone like her, who is not one who appreciates change and prefers to know exactly what is happened each day, it was a perfect career fit.  For me, it would be my worst nightmare due to the sameness of each day.  Everyone is different!

[abacus2]

My DH did briefly during college, but my dad got a job in a factory while they were expecting me and still works there now.

[lovinglife]

Dh does right now. He has an MA and is actively looking for a job more suited to his education/background, but this was available and he took it. Never thought it would be something we would do but he is learning some interesting things about yogurt (: it is pretty strenuous work.

[SKL]

I worked in a couple of factories as a line worker / machine operator.  My dad worked in factories for many years, first as a machine operator, then a foreman, then an electrician, then an electrical engineer until he retired.  My brother and sister have worked in factories for most of their careers.  Again, initially as a line worker and gradually earning more responsibility.  My granny worked in a factory for many years also.

[fraidycat]

DH worked in a couple different factories when he was younger.

[LMD]

dh worked in an auto plant for 10 years. His father still works there.

[LMD]

dp sorry.

[mom@shiloh]

I worked in a factory for one summer and then again for about six months before my first child was born.  Surprise pregnancy and we needed to find a way to get health insurance.

[Mommyfaithe]

My mom worked in a factory putting the little plastic dots on those souvenir purses you get on vacation. She hated it and it didn't last long.

Dh worked in manufacturing at IBM. It doesn't sound like a factory job, but it was. His dad worked in a factory too, metal smelting, before he became a police officer. Dh's mom worked in an electronics factory. I never worked in a factory and I am not sure if my dad did!!!!

[G5052]

My dad worked in what he called a "milk plant" that pasteurized and bottled milk, and then he later moved over to their ice cream operation.  He worked for them all through high school and college, and then worked at various food processing plants in graduate school on the weekends and in the summer.

 

Some years later when it looked like he was going to get laid off from his university job, he actually went to the local "milk plant" to see if they had any positions.  They did and were interested in hiring someone with experience, but he wasn't laid off and never had to go work there.

[LostSurprise]

I think everyone in my immediate family has worked in a factory at one time or another. Ah, my youngest brother hasn't. Everyone else has. 

 

I worked 3 part time factory jobs every summer I was in college (60-80 hrs a week). I used that money to pay down on my college debt and buy books. Sometimes I'm amazed at how few people have done this kind of thing.  I liked it better than fast food and retail. 

[KarenNC]

I'm counting textile mills as factory, so my dad worked as a doffer in the spinning room for a while in the 1960s before he got a job with the phone company. My stepmother did until she was in her 40s (she was working in the weave room, then they married and she moved here from a couple of counties over). My stepbrother did for many years (lost part of 2 fingers in an accident there as well), not sure what part of the mill, but then became a truck driver and now dispatcher. My maternal grandfather was a foreman on the loading dock at a bleachery when he retired after many years, having risen through the ranks, so not sure where that fits in. My maternal grandmother left 8th grade and worked in the mill until her marriage in her late 20s. The vast majority of my father's side of the family in the area worked in the textile mills, as did the majority of my mother's ancestors. Not as many have in recent years because the mills shut down and those jobs are gone. My only experience with production work was a couple of days as a temp at a machine shop, stamping out parts.

[Jeannie in NJ]

my mom worked in a factory for many years.  THe factory made jeans.  My mom started out as a seamstress and then became an inspector.  she enjoyed the job.

 

My grandmother worked as a welder at an airplane factory during World War II.

 

Dh's aunt worked at a chocolate candy factory and would bring home all the broken pieces

[ocelotmom]

I have a vague recollection that my mom, and possibly my dad, worked at a factory during college, but I'm not certain of that.

[unsinkable]

This has been a fun thread! Thanks everyone for answering!