Dirty Job

There are some really dirty jobs out there--and there is a tv show called DIRTY JOBS, a show one really must watch to appreciate the mention. The host, Mike Rowe, attended Yale or Harvard and was a businessman back in the day (or maybe attorney) until he met a number of folks who had jobs that he thought they would hate, but they loved.

Mike interviews (and does the work of) pig farmers, loggers, sewer workers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, folks who drudge sludge out of ponds, haul human waste and spread it on open fields in the heat of summer, clean out grease traps in restaurant kitchens, chemically clean and haul porta potties...once they showed him at some zoo shoveling elephant poo into a huge bucket! You name it? This guy Mike does it. And, with a smile.

I heard an interview of Mike Rowe on NPR one day and because he was one of the most eloquent speakers Audie Cornish (or whoever it was) had ever interviewed, I was entranced. He sounded animated and like a person I would want to meet and hang out with. This Mike guy was really quite humorous when he admitted that yes, he had gotten sick a number of times, infections, viruses...that sort of thing. Ended up in the hospital and emergency rooms of hospitals numerous times. He's gotten amoeba and cryptosporidium (both of which I have had and almost died from) and injured more than once, broken a few bones, that sort of thing. And not to mention all the clothes he had to throw out because they were too far gone to even think about saving, let alone washing. But he loves it.

But Mike Rowe also understands first-hand the hard labor, the long days, lack of compensation, absolute absence of glory, the dead-tired feelings and the horrible conditions. He appreciates  the workers, admires them, in fact. According to Mike, they have the right attitudes for the dirty jobs they do. "It's gotta be done. Somebody's gotta do it. I'm getting paid for this, so why not do it right?" The workers all have seemingly happy lives. They value what they have. They don't think of their jobs as being out of the ordinary, not worthy or anything like that. It's a job. My job. So what if I get a little dirty doing it? Dirt washes off.

Me? The dirtiest job I ever did was to help my brother-in-law carry a leaky, broken toilet (our chins resting on the rim) down a flight of stairs because my sister convinced me that as an outdoor educator who had spent an entire summer on the Long Trail composting outhouse matter? I had the stomach and muscles for just this type of dirty job. And funny thing was? I totally did and still do!