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On January 14,
1998, Fannie Barnes
became the first woman ever to qualify as a
cable car grip operator. How did she do it and why? Fannie explains, "I
heard so many people telling me a woman couldn't be a grip because they
don't have the upper body strength. I was working as a conductor for four
years at the time so I studied what the grip was doing every day. Then
I worked out extensively, extensively, for nine months. And when
I qualified, I beat these guys who said I couldn't do it! They were puffing
and sweating!" Not only did Fannie become the first female grip in the
history of the cable car, she did so at the age of 52. What's the strangest
question she's asked by tourists on the car? Fannie says, "It's when they
ask me how, how do they ride the cable car? I tell them, 'Step up
and we'll ride!'"
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