Old School - A Lesson

[spartacus53]

As you may know by now I finally have a job where I won't get ripped off. It's out of my normal field, but one has to do what one has to do to make ends meet until this economy changes.. If it ever does. I have been in the transportation field for well over 35 years, mostly for steamship lines in various office positions until I was able to get into sales about 20 years ago.

Today I'm still in transportation, but driving a sweeper and picking up garbage at a local mall near you Besides working the evenings which took a little getting used too, I went through a grueling 17 day straight training period. 17 days straight doesn't seem that bad until you look at the shift... We start at 9:45pm and end anywhere from 8-11am.. Yup a minimum of 10 hours per day throughout the training. I guess this was twofold. First was to teach you the routes and their methods, and secondly to weed out any misfits Weed-Be-Gone can't even weed me out, you think this job could.. No way, I needed an income

I've been here almost month and finally adjusted to the night-shift as well as the manual labor that goes along with the job.. Last time I did manual labor I was in my teens, and I surely don't miss it. Needless to say the hours are long, the pay is minimal, and it's labor intense. lifting 20-40lbs of crap isn't bad, but it does take a toll when you're doing it on and off for 10 plus hours, that and anywhere from 100-200 of driving.. This is no glamor job and I have pants that will never be clean again Also you have to take into account each site has a time limit to complete all the tasks that consist of blowing off the sidewalks (some 2-4 football fields long), changing the garbage bags and then using the sweeper to clean spots. Multiply that by 6-7 sites a night

We had a new guy Tony from NY, who started this past Sunday night. I only spent perhaps 10 minutes with him and the rest of the crew when he started asking a ton of questions. The first was.. If I get a speeding ticket, does the company pay for it... Sorry Charlie, your out of luck on that

Then he was touting how old school he was, not afraid to work, no job beneath him etc.. He went out as a helper to start learning the routes, same thing I had to do. He was lucky to go with a great guy, one that didn't mind pitching in.. Anyway, 3 hours in he asked the driver to take him back, this job was not for him He also said there was no way he was going to pick up diapers by hand from the lot.. (That's what gloves are for) Tony called in the next day to speak with the manager, who in turn ripped him a new one. The manager said you were lucky he drove you back, I would have left you there This site is a good 50 minutes from the depot Tony went on to say, you don't have to pay me for the few hours I was there.. The manager told him, you're lucky I'm not sending you the $75 bill for the drug test we sent you on....

So Tony was Old School, I just wonder what school he really went to...

After all, I grew up in NYC and we didn't pull the nonsense he did.

 

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[wayne_sa]

That sweeper is your Zamboni and your rink is the world.

 

[Jeffro]

Wonder if you could hook up a sluice to that sweeper and see what you recover? LOL! Must be a gold ring or two every now and again that gets lost in the gutter...

After 30 years doing labor, I've finally managed to get into management again.... I miss being able to "make things work" and can't stand the zillions of questions I get asked each day... gonna have to get used to it I guess.

Yeah, I wonder what school that kid went to as well, LOL! If he can't be bothered with dirty diapers, I wonder what he's gonna do when he has kids?

 

[spartacus53]

wayne_sa, you are so right on that account. Then again the world has always been my rink, and I allow others to play in it... Only now, I have a classy way of getting around.

Jeffro, not a bad idea, but it would never work as far as getting the job done on time... You're right about one thing though, there are all kinds of goodies there for the taking. Don't forget for the most part, you're driving about 7-10mph, so keeping an eye pealed to the ground will garner good results. I have one busy Applebee's on my route and already found a nice $20 just waiting for me on the curb-line..

That guy is his late 40's, I think the only diapers in his future will be his when he become incontinent.