Not long ago, I was talking with a particularly ornery young teenager client of mine explaining the direct connection between the effort he puts forward in his day-to-day assignments/school work, and the quality and quanitity of opportunities and experiences to which he’ll have access as he continues through high school and into college. He didn’t understand how this worked, and half-jokingly said he didn’t have to work hard because he would just go to work at his dad’s commerical real estate business. I explained to him that choosing to do that – or anything for that matter – was an absolutely fine decision, as long as it was an active choice, as opposed to the only option after a lifetime of seeking the path of least resistance, and being just 15 years old, he owed it to himself to work to his fullest potential in order to discover what he loved, and what he wanted to be.
He just stared at me.
I think a little drool leaked down the corner of his mouth.
Think of it another way, I told him. If you progress through high school and college and work your tail off and earn a degree and learn about the world and decide as you approach graduation that you want to be a businessman or engineer or trash collector, then the choice has great value because it is self-determined, and is made as a result of life experience and exposure to many and varying options.
He just stared at me again.
And then he burst into laughter. “A TRASH MAN?!” He proceeded to mock the idea that anyone would ever choose to be a trash collector, and incessantly rejected the notion that he would ever choose to be one because it was beneath him.
I nearly came out of my chair.
But instead of resorting to violent outburst, I shared with him how and why we should all be grateful for trash collectors and janitors and custodians.
Grateful.
Grateful because as a society, we are, quite simply, at the mercy of the waste management industry.
According to the EPA, in 2008, there were 249,610 thousand TONS of solid waste generated in the US. That’s 499,220,000,000 pounds of trash, which is approximately 1664 pounds of trash PER PERSON. What’s that? You have a family of 4? Well that’s 6656 pounds of trash in your house, in your yard, in your closets, in your cars and on your roof. What’s that? You don’t live on a street alone but instead have neighbors who generate 1664 pounds per person too? Nice. Enjoy trying to drive on your street after a few months. Because even if every trash collector went on strike for just a few weeks or even months, it still comes to over 4.5 pounds of garbage per person per day in the US: decaying food, hazardous metals, breeding ground for untold baceria and insects, all the while attracting all manner of vermin.
Without trash collectors, janitors, and custodians, the country comes to a halt. Every university, high school, place of business, bank, hospital and restaurant would soon be unsafe places to be as the waste built up, and the threat of disease began to grow exponentially. Makeshift landfills that would inevitably pop up would eventually lead to toxins leaking into the ground water, spreading sickness and further eroding society’s ability to function.
I always thought that the value of this necessary and vital occupation in our lives was a given. It disappointed me that a 15-year-old high school sophomore would be so quick to mock and belittle an honorable occupation just because the job didn’t have great curb appeal – just because the job isn’t immediately recognizable as glamorous. It made me ask myself if I would have done the same thing at 15, but at 15 I had already had 3 jobs which included riding my bike miles a day, 6 days a week, hand-delivering newspapers to people’s front door. So, no, I don’t think I would have been too quick to look down my adolescent nose.
Trash collectors, custodians, janitors, cleaning crews, window washers, and really anyone ever featured on Dirty Jobs, make the difference between living in a “herd” and having a society. The measure of any civilization has always been exactly that: it access to being civil. Waste management of all types – from curbside collection to recycling to indoor plumbing – improves the standard of living for Everybody, promotes better health, can be environmentally responsible, and remains an industry of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. These people work physically demanding jobs with materials not many of us would want to handle on a day to day basis, all the while being the recipients of snooty condesention from 15 year-old brats.
I’m grateful for that trash collector, that cleaning staff, that custodian. I’m grateful not to have cholera and I’m grateful my toilets flush. I’m grateful that I don’t sleep on garbage and I’m grateful none of my family, in any state in the country, does either. I’m grateful for the value of manual labor and for the people who, with their own blood and sweat, keep society functioning. I’m grateful for the jobs I’ve had delivering newspapers and stocking bookshelves and unpacking inventory boxes and giving tours in 120 degree heat.
But most of all, today…
I’m grateful to not be 15.
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