Coal Miner Pt 03

You may want to read Parts 1 & 2 before reading this part. Again, a big ‘Thank You' to LadyCibelle and Techsan for making my story a much better read.

Chapter 4 The Lecture

We, my fellow miners and I, worked the mines by day and always stopped off for a few brews before going home. As we left, we would see those damn kids with their picket signs. I remember saying someone ought to educate them in what coal really does for them as we left the parking lot.

We were drinking our beers when Mike said after giving his wife that e-mail about what wives say, she had one for him. Just to let you know, Mike and his wife Racene get along great. I think I could honestly say that they have always been faithful to each other. They are always throwing little digs at each other in a joking way of course.

Mike reached in his pocket and pulled out his e-mail.

He didn't like the casserole, and he didn't like my cake.

He said my biscuits were too hard... not like his mother used to make.

I didn't perk the coffee right, he didn't like the stew,

I didn't mend his socks, the way his mother used to do,

I pondered for an answer; I was looking for a clue.

Then I turned and smacked the crap out of him...

Like his mother used to do.

After reading his joke from his wife, he pointed to his cheek and laughed. He told us that's where she beat the crap out of him. He and Racene had a marriage like Brenda and I used to have. I often remembered the happy times.

As we drank our beers, Matt Markly, one of our mine's head honchos came in. He was an alright guy and was pretty honest with us. He offered to buy the next round. Of course, we all accepted.

He looked over at me. "Rob, we heard you say today that someone ought to teach the protestors a little about the coal industry. We talked with the college and for Earth Day this year we are sending a representative to talk to the students about coal. We would like you to be the instructor."

"Whoa, Matt, I'm no teacher. I'm a coal miner and proud of it."

"Exactly, Rob! It's why we would like you to do it. It would be different hearing it from a miner's point of view. These students don't need some stuffed shirt telling them about the coal industry. Besides, it will give you a chance to speak your piece. Hell, they'll probably be only a dozen or so students show up, but you can say whatever you want, within reason of course."

The other guys sided with Matt and told me I should do it. They began calling me the teacher. I don't know why but I told Matt I would do it. He told me I had two days to prepare.

"Holy Shit! That's not much time, Matt."

"Just speak from the heart, Rob. You know the mines better than anyone does. If you need some facts and figures, come into the office library and get what you need."

Matt bought us one more round and thanked me for doing the company a favor. I went home and started to put some kind of presentation together. I thought to myself, I don't talk much but when I do, I open it wide enough to put my foot into it.

I went into the library the next day and got myself some more facts and figures. I needed a little proof to show these students how important our industry is to their daily lives. The day I headed over to the college, I had found out that a lumber/tree expert had talked to the group a couple of days earlier.

I walked into the college and asked what room the meeting was being held in. A student looked at me kind of weird and pointed to the auditorium. My God, I thought Matt said a dozen students. The auditorium held hundreds of people and was already half full with more students arriving every minute.

A nice lady came up to me and introduced herself as Ms. Angela Smiley. She explained to me that I was the last speaker for the Earth Day week celebration. She promised me that, if any students got out of hand, they knew that they would be expelled from college.

There were a few remarks made by Ms Smiley about Earth Day and what it meant, when it began and so on. Then, Ms. Smiley introduced me as Robert Mathais from the coal industry. I was a nervous wreck. If Matt were here now, I would wring his neck.

There were a few sparse claps from the audience as I approached the podium. I told them about myself and let them know that I had been a coal miner for over thirty years. I was proud of what the coal industry had done for America. One person kind of yelled out something about ‘ruining the earth'. I told him I would get to that topic as well.

I decided to give them a little history lesson. I began by tell them about the use of coal. I used facts out of the library and had some transparencies made to flash on the viewing board behind me. I began my speech:

"About 30% of all fossil fuel consumed in the United States is used to make electricity. Conversely, most electricity, about 70%, produced in the US is generated using fossil fuels, especially coal. Typically, the coal from one or more mines is transported by railroad or barge to a steam generating plant. Turbine generators utilize the steam to generate electricity at high voltage.

This electricity is transformed (by a transformer) to a higher voltage for transmission over a power network to industrial, commercial and residential users. Near the users it is transformed again, down to a low voltage, where it is distributed to the users via the familiar distribution system of poles and overhead wires."

I could tell that they wanted to know more about the coal ruining the earth. I explained to them first why we burned or used coal.

"Most coal mined in the United States is burned to make electricity. About one billion tons per year goes to Electricity Production. Most people do not realize that when they use electricity, they are probably also using coal. Of the coal that is not used to make electricity, most is used to make steam for heating, as coke in steel making, or is exported. In developing countries, half the world's population depends on coal for heat.

"Let me put this in plain English that most of you may understand. We, the people - that's me and you - are what consume the coal. You want your iPod, your Wii game? Do you watch television? How about a computer, does anyone here own a computer? How about those CD's and DVD's? What do you listen and watch them on?"

"As I've mentioned to you, everything time you use electricity, you use coal since it is where the power companies get their fuel. You want to stop the coal companies from digging coal. Then get rid of everything you own that uses electricity.

"Tell your local hospital that they don't need all that equipment to save lives. What about the city? Tell them they don't need those lights that keep you safe at night. You need to look at the ways that coal has improved your life and your families' lives throughout the centuries. I can go on and on and tell you what the coal industry has meant to the world, but I think you might be getting the picture."

When I was finished a student stood up and said, "What you say is true but look what you have done to the earth."

"Let me be honest with you. I agree, many years ago that the earth was raped of many of its resources and the land left desolate. Today we have programs to make the mining areas reclaim the property to look as good or even better than it did before."

I put on some slides showing how the mining industry has reclaimed many sites. While the pictures were flashing on the screen behind me, I read from a mining article I found in the library. I skipped through it and just highlighted a few important elements of it.

"Reclamation is a process of systematically restoring mined land to productive uses, a kind of landscape plastic surgery that transforms former coal mines into productive, attractive, and useful areas. Until 1947, when Ohio's first surface-mining law was passed, surface mining was unregulated. In 1949, the Ohio Division of Reclamation (now the Division of Mineral Resources Management) was created and charged with administering the new reclamation laws. However, Ohio's surface-mining law was amended many times, and in 1972, became one of the nation's strictest laws regulating active surface mining.

"Before a company may begin surface mining, it must specify how topsoil, water conditions, vegetation, wildlife, and archaeological resources will be protected, in addition to outlining how the land will be mined and reclaimed. Also, the coal company must post a bond of $2,500 per acre to insure that successful land reclamation.

"Furthermore, for each ton of coal mined, Ohio coal operators pay federal and state severance taxes to be used in reclaiming abandoned mined lands. The federal severance tax is 35 cents per ton for surface-mined coal and 15 cents per ton for deep-mined coal; the state severance tax is 9 cents per ton. Reclamation of abandoned mined lands can cost $10,000 per acre, whereas the cost of reclaiming land concurrent with mining is $1,000-3,000 per acre.

"Today's coal operator must comply with many regulations. However, in spite of increasing regulations and cost to today's coal operator to perform acceptable reclamation, numerous coal operators demonstrate that a business can be profitable and at the same time restore mined land to usefulness and productivity."

I further told the student that since I've been mining, the company I worked for has planted over a half million trees. So in the future, the generations to come will have the same if not better land on which to live.

In summing up, I told them that they controlled their future. If they thought there was too much coal being mined that they and all of their friends and family could all stop using anything electrical in their lives. There would be no need to mine coal if it wasn't being used.

I finished by telling them that I figured that a lot of what I said would go in one ear and out the other but if nothing else, they knew that they were responsible for the use of any coal that was mined.

I did receive applause when I finished. I looked over to the side and saw Matt clapping for me. He must have come in while I was talking. At least I got a chance to speak my piece. A few students came up to me afterwards and thanked me for the lesson. For some reason they never put the coal industry and electric together.

One woman came up to me and told me thank you. She went on to tell me her father was a miner also but had retired around ten years ago. Her name was Mary and she looked to be in her late thirties to early forties.

She asked me if I would mind if she took me to lunch and further discussed mining. It was lunchtime so I took her up on her offer. I drove to a small restaurant in the city and we talked.

We did very little talking about mining. I found out she was recently divorced and had two grown children. I missed her age by a mile. She said she was forty-nine but I'd swear she looked much younger.

After her divorce, she decided to go back to school and take up secretarial work. When she heard that someone was coming in to talk about mining, she was intrigued since her dad was a miner. She was a very nice looking woman and easy to talk to.

I explained to her that I had been divorced for nine years now and a little about working in both the deep and strip mines. I didn't tell her anything about why Brenda and I were divorced. After our talk, she asked me if I would call her some time and we could get together.

I went ahead and paid for the lunch and dropped her off at her vehicle. I was still the type of man that paid for the woman's dinner. Some people call it chauvinistic; I call it respect for the woman. I did get Mary's cell phone number and gave seeing her again some thought. We seemed to have a lot in common with both of us divorced and having two grown kids. Of course, her dad being a miner she understood a lot of what we go through.

I went back to the mines the next day and of course, I was teased like crazy. I was being called everything from Teacher Rob to Doctor Rob. I was called up to the office and they thanked me for putting a positive light on our industry.

After the meeting, Matt told me that in three days we would be doing some demolition. It was also actually Earth Day and the press and TV crews would be there for the actual explosion and seeing the mining company starting the resurfacing. What it entailed was that one of the mines that we were finished mining we set dynamite charges to cave it in so no one could get caught in any crevices or well holes of any kind. You would be surprised how many wells and holes we come across in strip mining.

After the demolition, we then resurface the land and start planting trees. I was one of the senior members of the demolition crew and would be setting the charges first thing that morning. We were going to wait till late afternoon before doing the exploding. They wanted the good TV exposure.

I went home that evening and decided to give Mary a call. I asked her out for dinner. We talked and ended up going dancing for a while. We had a couple of drinks but we didn't get intoxicated. I told her about the demolition we would be doing on Monday. She told me it always bothered her when she saw her dad going underground.

I knew then that even though she knew about my work that me being a miner would be hard on her. What she needed right now was just a friend. While on the dance floor she had her arms around my neck and pulled me to her and kissed me. It felt good and I kissed her back. We sat at our table and she asked me if I would have a problem being intimate with her.

I asked her if she was sure that's what she wanted.

She smiled and said, "Yes."

We went to a motel outside of town where no one would know either of us. She told me she just needed to be loved. Her husband had an affair with a young girl and she told me she just felt old. I explained to her that she was far from old and very desirable.

I just put on a corner lamp for minimal light and she went to take off her clothes. I asked her to let me do it. I slowly unbuttoned her blouse and began kissing her neck, pulling her blouse off her shoulders. Even though I hardly knew her, I was going to treat her as though I was totally in love with her. As I kissed her neck, I undid her bra.

She had nice breasts and I bent over and took each one in my mouth and slowly sucked her nipples to hardness. She had on jeans and I unbuckled and unzipped them, pulled them over her hips and let them fall to the floor. Now all she had on was her panties.

She was a full figured woman but far from being fat. Not that it would have made a difference. I wanted her to know that she was still very much desirable. I got on my knees and pulled her panties down over her hips and down her thighs and down to the floor. I pushed her lightly so she sat on the edge of the bed. I asked her to lie back as I buried my face into her muff.

"My God, oh my God, it feels so good," I heard her say.

I raised her legs and put them over my shoulder, and ate her out. I kissed and tongued her pussy. She reached down and spread her pussy lips to give me much better access. She began to buck into my face and grabbed my head and I felt her coming.

"Oh, shit! Oh, shit, I'm coming, I'm coming." First she said it, then she did it as her juices soaked my face.

She smiled at me as I quickly undressed and got on the bed with her. She moved to the middle of the bed and spread her legs wide to give me plenty of room to mount her.

She was built very similar to Brenda and even had the same color of hair. I had to wonder if that was one of the things that drew me to her.

I took my hardened cock and rubbed it up and down the entrance of her very wet pussy. I would watch my cock head slowly disappear as I went over her opening. I could hear her grasp for breath wondering when I was going to push it in. I could feel her pushing up against me every time my cockhead got to her pussy opening.

"Put it in please, Rob. I want to be fucked," said Mary.

On the next motion, I started pushing it in a little at a time. Mary was moaning and groaning and really letting herself go. Dammit, she was so much like Brenda. I couldn't get her out of my mind as I started fucking Mary harder and harder. God, it felt so good.

I felt Mary come again under me. She squealed and screamed out. I wasn't ready to come yet so I just held my cock deep into her while she pushed up hard and I felt her spasms squeezing my cock. Again, I remembered Brenda was able to do the same thing.

I had to wonder what was wrong with this woman's husband that he was such an idiot. Why would he need to cheat if he had a woman this hot at home waiting for him?

After her last climax, I rolled over on my back and she saw my cock was still hard. She got up and lowered herself slowly down over my shaft. Shit, she was good. Maybe it'd just been so long since I'd been with a woman who needed it this bad. She rode me and I could see her juices coating my cock. I felt myself getting ready to come and told Mary.

"Just come, Rob, shoot your load as deep and hard as you want."

I did just that. I grabbed hold of her hips and let myself come as hard as I could ever remember. Why did thoughts of Brenda keep coming into my mind? Mary was a very desirable and nice woman.

We rested and a couple of hours later we had a repeat session. She even gave me oral sex. If the circumstances were right, I could really love this woman. At least sexually, I felt that way. I knew that me being a coal miner would be a major problem for her.

We woke up the next morning and had sex one more time before showering. After we checked out of the motel, I took her out for breakfast. She told me she had a few things she needed to tell me.

I looked at her and wondered what it might be. I was sure we both knew that we couldn't become an item seeing me being a coal miner bothered her.

"Rob, my name is Mary Nancy Cooter. Please don't get mad at me; let me explain. I never met your wife but Brian cheated on me with a number of women, her being one of them. After he was beat up severely quite a few years ago I found out some of the women that he had cheated with.

"Most of what I have told you is true. After I found out he had cheated on me and that was probably why he lost his manhood, I asked for a divorce. He was a no good son-of-a-bitch. I did go ahead and raised my kids without much help from him. He had to pay both alimony and child support. Once my kids turned eighteen, the child support stopped.

"My supervisor told me I could get a much better job with a higher wage if I would take some classes and get a BA degree, so that's what I did or am doing. I'll have my degree in a few months. I am already doing part of my new job but the salary increase will come when I finish my degree work.

"I heard that a coal miner was going to speak on the ecology at the University and I wanted to hear it. My father was a coal miner. I want you to know I didn't lie to you about anything other than the younger woman thing and it was probably true too.

"When I heard your name it rang a bell. I put two and two together and figured it was my husband who helped ruin your marriage. I did not intend to sleep with you. After I heard you speak, and the sincerity in your voice, I wanted to meet you. After that, I guess it was somewhat revenge and part of me wanting to get to know you that led to this encounter.

"I have to say that your wife – rather, ex-wife - is a fool to give up a man like you for a romp with Brian. No man has ever made me feel more like a woman or come so many times as you did. Funny thing is you still love her. You called me Brenda twice during our lovemaking. It was love making that we had. It was so much better than just sex."