Life in the Oil Patch: Special Challenges

The huge number of new people out here has strained almost every aspect of life in the oil patch.  All of last summer we predicted that the southerners would head home at the first frost.  Sure enough, as soon as it got cold there was a steady trickle of campers headed south for the winter.  Now that it has warmed up, all those Georgia and Alabama guys have rushed back!  Professional services are affected in ways you may not think about.  For example, I have had on going problems with a tooth and a couple of days ago a large chunk broke off.  It broke off pretty far down and was painful.  It happened mid-week so I figured I had time to make an appointment before the weekend.  So, beginning at 8am the next morning I started calling dentists.  Turns out the only dentist in town was closed for the next five days.  I moved on in the phone book to offices in Williston, an hour away.  When told I kind of had an emergency, nine different receptionists informed me, in a very cold and rude manner, that they were booked through August and even if they had an opening, they are not taking new patents. 
By this time I was nearly in tears and was trying to resign myself to the fact that I was never getting into a dentist before the weekend.  And was beginning to worry that I would have to deal with the pain and broken tooth until June when I have an appointment to get my wisdom teeth pulled. Deciding that I had nothing to lose, I started calling Dickinson, a 90 mile drive from home.  The second dentist I called said they had an appointment later that day! I loaded up the kids, made a list for Walmart and took off.  Although I'm not going to lie, I started to have second thoughts.  After calling so many dentists and being turned away I began to wonder why this one had an opening.  But my tooth hurt and I hadn't eaten much in a little over 24 hours so I pushed aside my fears and drove on.  The dentist was able to fix my tooth and in record time too.  I'm sure the three little kids milling around in the corner of the exam room helped speed up the process. 

The point of the story is that you never know when the huge influx of people here is going to affect your life.  I know we are part of that problem since we have only been here for about a year.  But just think, how many little businesses, shops, doctors, other professionals and construction companies were ready to fold up just two or three short years ago?  I am sure they would have rather the growth be a little slower so they could keep up but at least the doors are still open.  We heard that the visitors center/liquor store in town was ready to close two years ago.  Now word has it they average $12,000 in liquor sales every day.  Even our church has benefited from the influx of people needing a new church home.  They built a large addition a couple of years ago and, thanks to much more tithing, it is all paid for. 

I know not all the natives of this area are happy about the new people and faster pace of life but it has helped us and so many other people.  There is almost no other place in the nation where you can go and be sure to get not only a job, a well paying one.  So many men have left their family behind to come here  trying to get ahead.  Living in the oil patch and sending money back to their wife and kids back home.  And here is the political segment, skip over if you don't agree.  Everyday I think about how this could all be gone as quickly as it came.  All it would take would be one word from the commander in chief to shut down all drilling and pumping.  More and more oil is being discovered.  With today's technology it is possible to reach oil never before attainable.  There is so much oil already discovered that we will never have to worry about oil again.  The only thing that would stop it is the federal government or the EPA.  It has already been halted or slowed down in several states.