Living in San Francisco years ago, I remember the hassles of California’s chain laws (State law requires that all vehicles carry chains during the winter, and that a three-tier level of chain use be followed, depending on the amount of snow). Charlie LeDuff talks to a few “chain monkeys” – people licensed by Caltrans to install chains on Sierra Nevada roads ($30/car).

He said there were philosophical points to his second career. “Women love you, they just love you,” he said. “You’re like their hero, and that gives you a good feeling.”
He finds modern men, on the other hand, a disappointing lot. They have become so sedate, so inept and removed from the ability to fend for themselves, Mr. Miesel said, that they must pay another man to put chains on their tires.