My brother in-law, Eddie, in his late teens early twenties went to seminary school. He didn’t actually want to become a priest, he went for his very devout Catholic mother who desperately wanted a priest in the family.
After two years in seminary school, Eddie made the hard decision that becoming a priest was not for him.
So Eddie dropped out of seminary and joined the Marines. He was sent off to fight in Iwo Jima where 6,800 Marines lost their lives. Eddie was one of the lucky ones.
When his service was up, he had to look look for a job. With two years of seminary schooling and an ex Marine, Eddie could have had some kind of desk job, however he went for the hard work of a blue collar job.
In those days, since our parents survived the Great Depression, we were taught the importance of finding a job that provided security and a pension.
Eddie found that work with the New York City Sanitation Department as a garbage collector.
I don’t think people realize the importance of garbage collectors, without them, our society would not succeed. This kind of work is so hard, but it has security and that is what Eddie wanted.
These days when I see a garbage collector, I always think of Eddie. I think of the hard work it takes to do this job. They are such valuable part of our society, they are the salt of the earth.
© Robert A Evans
Bobby's World 