The morning mayhem is the worst part of the day by far. Half asleep, rushing with a half a cup of coffee, still not pulsing enough caffeine into your veins. You're running late again and oh no, the devil has shown you favor this morning because you are stuck behind a garbage truck. The villain of the everyday worker is, of course, the Sanitation Department; The noisy truck that takes ten minutes to get down your block is the menace of the neighborhood, right? You are now cursing these hard workers and swearing under your breath. Or you are relentlessly honking your horn, and I must ask you; for what reason? Maybe you should have gotten up earlier.
My father has been a sanitation worker for years. He's worked for the city for a good two-thirds of my life, maybe even more and from what I understand he loves his job. Sanitation workers are the forgotten heroes of the city. They may not run into burning buildings, or have guns and swear to protect the city, but they have a pretty dangerous job. Sanitation workers spend a large majority of their time on busy streets, being bullied by impatient drivers. They can be injured easily on the job by so many things. They toss bags of unknown substances into large trucks that can hold literally tons of garbage. Some of these substances could be acid, glass, needles and anything potentially dangerous. It is easy to be hit by a car during the morning commute by a person not paying attention to anything but the ticking clock. Sanitation workers are first responders to any natural disaster, like hurricanes and their clean up. They were amongst the first people cleaning up the wreckage and our homes after hurricane Sandy.
In light of the recent blizzard, good ol’ Jonas, I feel the need to stress the importance of Sanitation workers and their part in snow cleanup. They do the absolute best they can. My father, amongst other Sanitation workers, worked 12-hour shifts back to back to back, facing the harsh winds and painful snow and ice whipping across their faces. A driver in Maspeth, Queens was stuck in his plow for fifteen hours, impossible for him to move down the narrow street with cars parked on both sides, for the snow was falling at a rate of three inches per hour.
These men and women work to the best of their abilities and they are never appreciated as greatly as they should be. In my neighborhood, some blocks did not get plowed, and it was not because they were unimportant. The size of the trucks and the amount of snow made it nearly impossible for some trucks to make it down every block. Some corners cannot be maneuvered by the massive vehicle and the waist deep snow did not help this at all.
My dad came home from work after one of his 12-twelve hour shifts and his faith in humanity was restored. He had a rough day in the snow and people in the neighborhood never make it any better. He was in his plow, trying to clear the streets when the snow took control of his vehicle. He skidded to the side and hit a parked car. What are we to expect? Some kind of dramatic response, yelling, screaming, pointing fingers and blaming for the damage, right? The woman whose car it is deserves a hug and a thank you. This woman came out of her house and did none of those things. She said, “it's okay, shit happens.” She then gave my dad a bottle of water and proceeded to make his day a little better by being an overall good person.
We need to remember that your friendly neighborhood garbage man is out there every single day picking up tons and tons of our nasty trash, cleaning up our streets and our careless litter. They are out in the 100-degree weather as well as the -5-degree weather. They are out in the blazing sun, the pouring rain, sleet, hail, and thunderstorms. These men and women are out taking care of our city and making sure it does not become more overrun by rodents and filth than it already is.
The next time you get stuck behind a garbage truck, instead of cursing at the man that could quite possibly be my father, working his tail off to support his two daughters who are college students, and a wife who loves him very much, say thank you. He's keeping our city clean.
