Quote from Thom Beers about growing up in Batavia:
"Somebody taught me a long time ago, be true to who you are," Beers said by phone this week from Long Beach, Calif., where he and a crew filmed a bridge painter for NBC's "America's Toughest Jobs," another Beers production. "I grew up in a blue-collar world."
In his hometown of Batavia, N.Y., just east of Buffalo, his heroes were his uncles, Nick, a pizza maker, and Rocky, a mechanic, "salt-of-the-earth guys. Guys who told the truth, went to work every day and took care of their families. It's not that I saw an opening for a grand experiment. This is what I know."
UPDATE: Here's another story about Beers -- Life is never borig.
Anyone who's ever watched
Anyone who's ever watched the show can easily see that Thom Beers is sincere in what he says. The real people doing the "Dirty Jobs" always come out looking skilled and competent. The whole attitude of the show is about respect and admiration for people who work hard at tough jobs. The real kick is when an episode features a job you've done yourself, or one that someone close to you has done. At other times, I've found myself thinking, "Wow! Glad there's someone willing to do that!"