Not Your Average Workday: When people imagine working in the oil and gas industry, they often picture hard hats, heavy machinery, and serious faces.
What they don't imagine?
The army of squirrels, "haunted" porta-potties, and grown men in pink tutus that welders and pipe-fitters quietly deal with every day.

Today, we reveal some of the strangest, funniest, and most unforgettable oilfield moments — straight from the men and women who keep America’s pipelines running (and occasionally, laughing).

1. The Great Porta-Potty Chase of 2017: Imagine chasing a porta-potty across a West Texas oilfield during 45 mph winds.
Now imagine it’s still occupied.

According to 34% of welders surveyed, unexpected “porta-migration” is a top workplace hazard — right after sunburns and accidentally welding your glove to the pipeline.

• Windborne Porta-Potties: 34%

• Coyotes Stealing Lunchboxes: 22%

• Rigs Infested with Bats: 18%

• Boss’s Truck Getting Stuck (Again): 26%

2. Attack of the Wild Animals (and One Particularly Rude Goose): Forget lions and tigers.
The true menace of the oilfield? Angry geese, raccoons that seem oddly organized, and one infamous cow that once "borrowed" a welder’s lunch and truck keys.

One pipe-fitter reported, "If it's got fur or feathers, it's either stealing your sandwich or plotting something."
Who knew the oilfield had its own "wild kingdom"?

3. The Mysterious Pipeline Graffiti Artist: Somewhere out there, there’s an anonymous welder (or maybe a bored inspector) who leaves highly detailed cartoon drawings inside unfinished pipeline sections.
From dancing dinosaurs to surprisingly accurate depictions of the site manager — no pipe is safe.

• Bored Welders: 55%

• Bored Pipe-Fitters: 30%

• Actual Artists Moonlighting: 10%

• Ghosts: 5%

4. Unofficial Oilfield Fashion Week: No OSHA rulebook can prevent a welder from expressing himself... especially when "Fashion Friday" hits.
Reports of:

• Hard hats decorated like medieval helmets

• Plaid kilts over FR pants

• Welding hoods customized with unicorns

One survey found that 72% of welders believe "Personal Protective Swag" improves productivity.
(Science hasn't confirmed this yet... but it feels true.)

5. Ghost Stories from the Night Shift: Is that creaking noise just the wind… or something else?
Night shift crews tell stories of:

• Phantom footsteps around shut-in rigs

• Shadowy figures near storage tanks

• Mysterious singing over the radio (usually country music, strangely enough)

Most Believable Oilfield Ghost Encounters:

• Haunted Tool Shed: 42%

• Singing Tank Battery: 37%

• The Mysterious "Phantom Supervisor" (Only appears when you slack off): 21%

Conclusion: Oilfield Life — Tough, Proud, and a Little Weird: Behind the sparks, sweat, and steel beams, oilfield workers are storytellers, comedians, and survivors.
Whether it's wrangling rogue porta-potties, facing down sassy wildlife, or battling the "phantoms" of the night shift, welders and pipe-fitters prove one thing every day:

Hard work builds pipelines — but humor keeps the crew together.

Next time you drive past a pipeline project, remember:
There's a good chance someone's out there welding steel... while laughing at a raccoon trying to hotwire a forklift.