Parents often chastise their children when they show little work ethic with the threat that “if you don’t start getting better marks you’ll end up working as a dustman”.
This is seen as a pejorative statement for dustmen – or refuse collection executives as they are now often known – are regarded as the lowest of the low, unintelligent and low-paid. Hence when people find out that they don’t actually work for minimum wage there is an outcry about their salaries.
Well let me tell you now, dustmen are worth every penny of their salary – and more.
I have written before of the terrors of my walk to work and this morning I discovered myself gaining on a refuse lorry. This in itself is not unusual it happens every Thursday. But today I was downwind. Even at 100 yards and closing I was gagging. The smell was awful. It permeated my soul and clogged my throat. I wanted to eat an Airwick.
Fortunately the lorry turned down a side road as I got to within 50 yards and, in an effort to get to some untainted air, I increased my pace – though falling short of actually jogging of course.
If these guys can work all day with that stench in their nostrils they are better men than I and deserve all the pounds sterling they get.
Their salary should be docked only for unnecessarily loud voices – which seem also to be a prerequisite for the job – and the use of discarded cuddly toys as ineffective bull bars on the front of their vehicles. They’re not going to cushion the impact of anything.
Perhaps they’re not so bright after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment