Show 10 —TImi Harold JswmT Logos Utah Sunday J Joins City Crews A Switches For Jobs Day Reporter (EDITOR’S NOTE: Many times a person'a Job could be Just a little easier if people understood more about it Ibis is the first in what is hoped to be a continuing series where a Herald Journal reporter will do actual work at some Job for a day) ByDuwardBeas Herald Journal Staff Writer What happena to garbage? You set it out in the morning before you go to work and when you return home it has disappeared Ihat’a what happens to disappears! At least that’s what I thought happened to garbage for awhile I set it out someone came after it and it was gone Very simple so why worry about it? Oh I knew that someone took care of all that trash After all I could see the charge that was made to me each month by the city It was marked “waste" on the monthly water bill I have a different idea about garbage now I know what happens to it I saw where it went I saw how it went and who put it there In fact I put it there I was a garbage collector At least I was for a day It was an eyeopener of an experience The whole thing was someone boas He decided rise's idea--my that a good story could be written about the men who work for the aanltatlon department I had an idea that he was going to give me the story He did I called the city sanitation engineer Roger Stephens and made arrangements to go out with a crew A Jangling alarm woke me at 4 aun and I forced myself out of bed I had to be at the rear of the city office building in an hour Half a breakfast later I staggered out die front door to get in the car '“Good heavens” I thought “It’s still dark" It seemed to be even darker when I walked into the door and aaw the huge trash cans that they called trucks The men looked at me as if I were some kind of nut When I introduced myself and told them why I was there they knew I was some gar-bage- -ft kind of a nut “You mean you are going out on this because you want to?" “No because my boss wants me to” I replied I met some of the men that I would work with during the day then we crawled into the cab of a truck and pulled away from the garage We were on the commercial route We stopped at the back doors of the businesses and emptied the cans At some places there were large metal containers that the mer called dumpsters These were rolled up to the truck and hooked onto special attachments The large metal box could now be lifted and tilted to spill out its contents into the truck I watched as boxes cans papers and spoiled food tumbled into the truck As we worked together we became acquainted Montell Wickham was a midddle-age- d man He worked hard and you could tell he did by looking at him He started working his Job in 1946 He had a family IBs middle son was working on the truck with us LaMoine Wickham could be almost a carbon copy of his dad except for the glasses Both wore coveralls Both wore a straw hat to protect them from a sun that would soon be blazing hot Both had a deep tan It was interesting to be with the Wickham They were not as I had expected What was I expecting? I wasn’t sure I didn't know what a garbageman was like I hadn’t met one that I knew of The fatheraon team was a happy pair They Joked and laughed easily Within minutes after I had Joined their they were Joking and witt me aa if I had worked with them for years “Why are you doing this type of work?" I asked them Montell Just shrugged and kept working but LaMoine told me “I’m one of those kids that are too smart to go to college” I found out that LaMoine was married and had four Uda Our truck hadn’t been out too long when the boss came around Roger Stephens seemed that I was actually going through with being a gar bageman for a day Aa I spoke to Stephens the Wickhams were dumping large idles of loose trash into the truck We were at a supermarket and the trash had been idled up inside a fence without befog placed into containers It was not the first time that we had run across the practice that morning "Isn’t there some sort of city Artel Inglet was the crew4eader and responsible for the truck Lee Wildman greeted me with a big smile and an open hand Jay Laird was quiet He was tired Inglet had been with the Job for over 15 years He didn't speak too muck but he was friendly We Joked for a few minutes name about Wildman’s Everyone claimed that he lived up to it He had been on the Job fur about six years Laird I discovered was a graduate of Utah State Univeisity with a BS in mathematics He was still in school working for a computer science degree He was waking for the summer Earlier I had asked how a person ever decided to be a garbageman Stephens had told me that most Just drift into the Job Some might not have very much education and took what was available at the time They stayed with it becauae it was a steady paycheck and they could forget the Job at the end of each day Inglet and Wildman alternated at driving the truck Laird and I stayed on bade We moved up and down endless streets Pushing and pulling on cans boxes and buckets I found out a lot about a lot of people have long Archeologists known that the most revealing why of unraveling the life style of people long dead is to find the place they dumped their garbage and examine that I discovered this to be true I out a lot about a lot of ordinance that keeps these people from disposing of their waste this way?’’ I asked Stephens Stephens was silent for a moment before answering "Yes there is an ordinance but it’s not enforced” I didn’t press the print as that was not the purpose of my being there We continued our work after Stephens left on other business More cans boxes and dumpsters Up and down went the packer as the trash was compacted and pushed into the bowels of the truck We emptied the trash containers that lined the downtown streets Each of these cans required a plastic liner to be placed inside Soon too soon it seemed the truck was filled and we started to the dumpground It took only a few minutes to empty the contents of the truck and we were headed back to town Stephens caught ua and asked how we were doing We worked for awhile and then it was break thne Stephens met us at a local coffee shop We talked about the trouble we were having with one of the dogs (small latches that hold the dumpsters on the truck) He told Montell to drive' by the city riwp and have it fixed A few minutea later I found out that Stephens did not usually check on the crew as often as he had this morning I Joked about him checking up on me The men Joked about Stephens wondering what I was going to write about We decided that I might b able to get a better picture of the men if I went with another crew for the rest of the day We found another truck working along the residential area Hurrah they were Just about to stop for their morning break This way I got two breaks I met the three man crew sur-pris- bathtub It was good to relax again My legs were killing me I had discovered that the hardest part of my day had not been lifting the cans but in climbing up and down on and off the truck Dozing in the tub I remembered some of the events of the day On one street Laird had been stopped by a woman She was unable to lift her cans to place them on the curb Her neighbor usually put them out but had forgotten them that day Laird didn’t have to but he carried out the cans for the woman It wasn’t even on our route I thought of a group of small boys following us How careful inglet was to make sure that they were not hurt by a tossed trash can even though the little getting in the way us down Wildman took care to see that the kids were safe before he started moving the truck I remember the considerate people on 15th East The cans were light as each house had enough cans to place all of the trash in None of the cans seemed to exceed the 70 pound limit that is allowed by law One elderly lady tried to pay us for hefetag her She was very old and could not take her trash to the curb I was told that the crew usually helped her and that every week she tried to pay them Each week the woman was told that they couldn’t take money She dipped 50 centa into Laird’s shirt pocket while be waa carrying a can Laird stopped smiled and placed the money baric into her hand The men explained why they sometimes did snail services for people as I had observed them do They frit that they might aomeday be in a position to need help and that they would appreciate someone helping them in this way I thought of Wildman heading for a part-tim- e Job after be finished Us work for the city I found out that most of the men had other Jobs I was glad the day waa over for me Tomorrow I could write of my experiences Tomorrow they would be out collecting your After hours of hard labor we were almost at the end of our route Wildman waa driving Inglet told me that you could always tell when we were nearfog tho end by the way Wildman drove He always Just a bit faster I couldn’t notice a great dr J of difference in the speed I guess that I was too tired by thia time Finally the last can headed forithe dump groui unload Back at the garage we talked about the day for a minute before parting We said goodlqr as they parked the truck in the garage I headed hone to a hot trash ru Herald Journal Photos By Bob Trowbridge “YOU MEAN THAT I’VE got to pick that np?’’ Duward Bean seems to say (Top photo) as he starts his day's work for the Logan Sanitation Department LaMoine Wickham and Bean enjoy a break in a hot day’s work (middle photo) while discussing the job “Strange I thought that we loaded more than santtation-expert-for-a-da- y that" Bean seems to be tninking (bottom left) as a truck is emptied at the Logan Dump grounds "OK fellas here is the way it’s done" (top right) as Jay Laird (on left of photo) and Lee Wildman watch for pointers A long hot day is over and Bean (bottom right) relaxes his feet etc legs back hips '"V 'fX' fV 4 vJ 1 j I-- 'b ' ' "f K y v s --' n v At '& ' ' - v - v-- £'' ' - ' ' Vj i J" v :-- i V - - '' s ? 33 s fi' ’ ' viv' “ vs |