Climbing the corporate ladder   during my 32 years at Southern Bell (now AT&T) never appealed much to me. But climbing telephone poles? Now that's a whole different story. In 1978, I became the first female lineman in Columbus, Georgia.  I really enjoyed the work, and most of the men accepted me because I worked hard at it.  I think that at first, they didn't think I could do it. But I got right in there and proved myself. I was a lineman for about three years. Then l went on to work at other outdoor jobs at the company before l retired in 1997. I decided to become a lineman because I wanted to work outdoors. I was a tomboy    as a child and even built my own tree house, so you could say I had a little experience. My husband, William, encouraged me to give the job a try. After work, I liked to drive around town and show him the wires I'd spliced   that day. People were surprised to see a female lineman. They'd say, "Look, that's a woman up that pole." One day I heard a man say, "Oh, look, there's a telephone man-woman!" Safety belts and hooks minimized the risk of falling, but concentration was essential.  Sometimes I felt a little nervous,  but the guys told me I was less likely to fall if I wasn't too confident. It helped that I was strong, because the cables and equipment are heavy. I'm not sure every woman could've done what I did. 1 took a lot of pride in it. When the author first became a lineman,  _  .
she was sure to be promoted she loved it and went all out for it she tried her best to convince her husband she received immediate recognition from colleagues