WEST FARGO — Snow plowing is often cold and cruel work, especially as we face our ump-teenth storm of the winter.
In this usually male-dominated field, one woman is taking the job in stride, and is hoping to start a new trend.
Jordan Crouse from West Fargo has worked tough jobs her whole life, and she definitely draws attention in area neighborhoods with her unique snow pusher.
During the snowfall Monday, Feb. 21, Crouse could be spotted driving a snow plow with a pink blade, clearing and piling snow. She is one of just a couple known female snow removal contractors in the Fargo-Moorhead metro.
"They be like, 'oh my God, it's a girl getting out,'" Crouse said. "They'll clap for us, or we get a lot of thumbs up, or you get a lot of like guys driving by and they're like, 'I think it's a girl,' and you can just tell the whole cars having that conversation."
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A contractor with Glacier Snow Management, Crouse's career in the cold is a decade old. Which means Monday's tedious driveway clearing was nothing new. She is just being herself when inside the plow, heckling her coworkers.
"It's my goal in life here to hit Jeremy's pickup once," Crouse said.
Crouse's brother Andy Braaten knows about this all too well.
"Oh, it's great. It's never a dull moment," he said.
He got Crouse hooked from the beginning.
"I grew up with a dad and a brother, and if I wanted to play, whatever they were doing, it was guy things," Crouse said.
Which also includes shoveling ice and snow, in subzero temperatures.
A woman breaking down barriers, and pulling coworkers out of tight spots, paving her own way in this male-dominated field. Crouse's four kids all want to follow in their mom's footsteps, and they just might when they're old enough to drive.
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"I think it's (the) norm. I think it's definitely part of the norm," Andy Braaten said.
