By Emily Miller
REXBURG — As the first woman ever hired by the Madison County Road and Bridge Department to drive trucks and operate heavy machinery, Cindy Roberson felt like she had something to prove when she started the job 31 years ago.
“Other than the secretary, I was the only woman down here at the Road and Bridge, and it was a man’s world,” Roberson says. “They were kinda tough talkers when I first walked in. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into?’”
But Roberson says most of the all-male crew accepted her right away, and it didn’t take long for her to feel like she was right where she was supposed to be.
“I found out that they were wonderful to work with,” she says. “We became a family. It was good.”
In the early days, Roberson came home from work every night feeling sore. It wasn’t in her arms, shoulders, or back from the physically demanding job (though it was very demanding). It was in her cheeks and her ribcage.
“I couldn’t figure out what was going on with that, and then one morning I started laughing and my cheeks and my ribcage started hurting and I realized it was these men!” Roberson says.
