That’s what a friend of mine said about the guys who just pumped out her septic tank. It’s an important job. They did it well. They have high standards and a good attitude. We need more of all of this.
4 thoughts on ““They’re Very Proud of Their Work””
Comments are closed.
As well they should be. Waste management and disposal is a solemn social responsibility, often taken for granted. In the past when we flushed something into the sewers it used to just be assumed that the public sewer lines would take care of it and it would go where it was supposed to go.
Now can we really be so sure? Can we afford to have that much faith in a government-run system? Will there be leaks, will there be backups into our basements, will there be overflow into the streets, will it end up in our drinking water???? Who is accountable for each or all mistakes?
Sadly there are not easy answers to these troubling questions. It’s a classic “tragedy of the commons” problem. Like those raging wildfires in California, we need some human intervention to provide firewalls and circuit breakers. We need a plan. We need surety.
What we need is private sewage systems, and we need the Septic Service Man.
Reminds me of the ending seconds of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show: crew sweeping the street after the parade. The ones that hold society together.
disclosure: worked one college summer for city trash service (very educational experience!)
Bricklayers. I get the opportunity to watch different trades working while riding my bike down the alleys, riding past new houses going up after old houses are scraped off. All are worth watching but watching brick being laid is particularly fascinating. I was able to rebuild/repoint a garage wall after watching and questioning several + watching a few youtube videos. The mortar color didn’t match but that doesn’t matter and my tenants are no longer afraid of the wall falling down on their car.
Almost all the trades people I have interacted with over the years have been great people — thoughtful, hard-working, positive attitudes. Septic tank pumpers, propane delivery guys, plumbers, electricians, roofers, carpenters. Good men! About the only exception was one particular boss of a carpenter squad, who really belonged in Boeing’s Board Room — but that is another story.
Perhaps trades people are most of what is left of the old “Working Class” that Marx & the Democrats claimed to love. Rich liberal bosses have sent so many of the former productive factory jobs to China in a one-sided interpretation of “Free Trade” that the main type of productive (non-service) jobs left in the US are in the trades. And if the rich liberals ever find a way to export the work that trades people do to China, then they will have succeeded in eliminating the icky (in their eyes) Working Class.