"When you say plants, what exactly does this plant do? If my above assumption is correct, does it have something to do with the extraction of resources? Refining them?"

- More technical distinctions can be drawn, but the term "plants" refers to both refineries, which take crude oil and refine things such as gasoline and jet fuel from it, and chemical manufacturing facilities, which can make all sorts of things. "Plants" do not engage in extraction, i.e., a "plant" is not at all the same thing as on oil well.

"I'll assume the operator is the head boss of the plant."

- This assumption is incorrect. Operators are skilled but rank-and-file employees. They are not in supervision (at least generally speaking) and may unionize.

"From what I undersatnd, this person makes a shite ton of money."

Operators can do quite well, especially when you consider that many of them are able to and do live in small communities outside of expensive metro areas. Solid hourly pay plus opportunites for high five-digit and even six digit incomes are common.

"What exactly does this job entail? What does the operator do on a day to day basis?"

It varies depending on the plant and the process. But think in terms of monitoring controls panels/computer screens/guages, turning valves to isolate process areas for construction or safety reasons, sometimes sampling batches of chemicals, dealing with rail or truck deliveries (sometimes). This is not an exhaustive list. (You might hear a construction hand, such as a pipefitter, say that operators "sit in the AC all day" ... and there may be some truth to that!).

"The people on the other end of the ladder from the operator, the lower level, entry level plant workers..what do they do? What are their primary tasks?"

They're not necessarily lower level, but you will see plenty of electricians, carpenters (largely working with scaffolding and making frames for pouring cement), pipefitters, welders, and other construction hands. Many of these folks may be contractors.

"I see that plant workers, despite their high wage, get made fun of on here a good bit. Is it just because of the assumption that they are unintelligent? All I really can picture to be an equivalent would be like a factory or something with welders and people working with metal and machines. Is it that type of employee?"

I am not on this board too much, but I suppose there are some who might poke fun at plant workers because they have blue collar jobs.

"If working in a plant sucks so bad, as I am led to believe, how/why do they make so much money?"

It really doesn't suck. Good money, good benefits, and a decent number of days off. There is an element of dangers, the hours can be long and sometimes the work is hard. so, it's a mixed bag like most jobs. As for the pay, a lot of it comes from the fact that the costs of a screwup, both in human and monetary terms, can be so high. The companies want to get the best people who are able and willing to do that kind of work. So they pay for it.