Things to be Thankful for III

People who do dirty jobs.

In our modern, highly civilized society, there are still many dirty jobs to be done. Thankfully, there are people who do them!

The abundance of dirty jobs even spawned a hit television series by that name. Each episode meets and joins people doing dirty jobs. Mike Rowe, the multi-talented host of the show revealed in a recent interview, that the people who do these jobs do so with dignity and with pride in a job well done!

It says something about different people's perception of what is a dirty job, and also about the inner satisfaction of mastering your task and doing it well.

Tackling and completing a dirty job can often be a learning experience. My close acquaintances have all heard me talk of an incident from early in my Army career. Working a shift at K.P. (They call it Kitchen Police to disguise the fact that it is simply cleaning up after cooks and sloppily-eating soldiers, three meals in a mess hall.), the Mess Sergeant pointed to a small manhole-like cover on the floor and ordered me to "clean that grease trap!" What? I'd never heard of a 'grease trap'! I pried the lid open and beheld the most disgusting mass of... whatever it was that had accumulated and filled the 'trap'.

I guess I spent a few seconds too long staring at the mess. "Just roll up your sleeves, use your hands and scoop that stuff out of there", he instructed.  Fighting back the gag reflex, I did as told, scooped the mess into a bucket, finished cleaning the trap and replaced the cover. Then I hurried to a latrine to scrub and scrub and scrub.

Yes, I learned what is meant by grease trap, and how to clean one. While I've never again needed that knowledge, I did learn a larger lesson: no matter how dirty your hands, they will come clean. That lesson has served me well throughout my life.

On a few dirty jobs, such as in auto mechanics or as a pressman, where you get black grease or printing ink under your fingernails, it takes a little longer. But, your hands will come clean.

Every day, countless numbers of people go to work at dirty jobs. In heat, cold, or some other unwelcome environment, they do the work that keeps our civilization civilized.

Remember to take a moment, this Thanksgiving, to silently thank them.