With a cheerful “Hello, good morning, how can I help?” petrol pump attendant Petra Maxwell greeted customers at Rubis Walkers Road one recent morning as she readied to fill their gas tanks.
It’s a job she has been doing at the gas station for more than 20 years and she says, “I love it.”
In this story, we profile both Maxwell and Shevon Fearon, as the first feature in a Compass series in the run-up to International Women’s Day on 8 March.
Maxwell, a Caymanian mom of one, agrees that pump attendant is perhaps not a ‘typical’ job for a woman, but she said she is glad to be a pioneer of sorts as one of the few in Cayman.
“It makes me feel stronger, working alongside the men. What the men do, we can do it, too,” she said, as she recently marked her 21st anniversary working at Walkers Road Rubis.
Fellow pump attendant Shevon Fearon, 26, agreed.
Fearon, who moved to Cayman from Jamaica just over a year ago, said she takes special pride in her job at Seven Mile Beach Rubis.
“A lot of people say I must go inside, do kitchen or whatever. But I love pumping [gas]. It is not what other people say about you. Anything that you are doing, you’re supposed to be proud of it. So I’m proud to be a pump attendant,” she said.
‘Queen among kings’
Maxwell said that she was not always stationed at the pump.
When she first started at Walkers Road in 2003, she worked in the deli and, though she liked it there, she said she wanted to be able to meet customers.
At that time, female pump attendants were unheard of in Cayman.
However, after Hurricane Ivan devastated the island in 2004, Maxwell wanted even more to meet and chat with those in her community so she approached her manager.
“I asked him if I could come out… [to the pumps] and he said, ‘Petra, if you want to, sure you can go ahead,'” she said.
She said her male co-workers welcomed her.
“One of them said to me, ‘Oh, Petra, welcome to the club. We have a queen among all the kings.’ It was so funny,” she recalled, laughing.
Abilities questioned
However, it has not always been an easy road for Maxwell. She shared, even today, two decades later, she still gets the odd customer or two who question her abilities or just prefer to have a male attendant.
“When I have female customers come and ask me to check the fluids in their car, they say, ‘I rather to have a man do it. Can you get one of the men to get it done?'”
She would tell them she was sure she could check it herself, and if they still questioned her ability, she’d respond, ‘Yes, I can do just as what the men do out here.'”
Fearon added she has been trained to work the pumps and check vehicles, just the same as her male counterparts.
“When I’m dealing with my customers, I always put a smile on their face, give them a joke sometime when they are sad. I can do air in tyres, and I can wipe the windshield, change the engine oil, put in the coolant. I try to let my customers feel comfortable with me, so I always give them a smile. Sometimes when you give them a smile, they feel happy,” she said.
Fearon said she never expected to become a pump attendant, but she has no regrets.
Maxwell echoed that sentiment, saying that she has no qualms about the work, though some customers tell her to change her job.
“I have some good bosses. They’re very considerate…[of] our staff here. I must say that they’re good people to work with,” she said.
Fearon said she had a great team as well and they help to encourage her when times get rough.
“All of us are like one family. We live good… This Rubis, all of us are a team. When you are working as a team, you’ll feel more comfortable in what you’re doing,” she said.
Both women advised young female jobseekers not to shy away from work like theirs, as they can not only learn interesting skills, but they can become self-sufficient as well.
“When you have a mindset and you need a job, go at it. No job is too small and, in life, you have to start somewhere in order to get somewhere… Start climbing the bottom of the ladder to reach the top. That’s how I look at life,” she said.
Fearon added that she wants young women to remember it does not matter what people say or think about them.
“Anything that you are proud of, go ahead achieve your goal. Don’t let no one stop you because when you achieve your goal, you will be happy. Remember also to thank Father God every day for what he’s doing because without him you wouldn’t be at a certain place,” Fearon said.
If you have a story idea for this series, please email [email protected].
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